Ireland have been drawn into Group 5 for the UEFA Euro 2019 Under-21 qualifying campaign.
The draw in Nyon, Switzerland pits the Boys in Green into a group featuring Germany, Norway, Israel, Azerbaijan and Kosovo.
Germany are the strongest side in the group based on pedigree. They won the under-21 Euros in 2009 and reached the semi finals in 2015.
Ireland under-21 manager Noel King highlighted Germany as the toughest team in their group.
"Germany are a torment for any team but when is it ever an easy draw? In the last qualifiers they played ten and won ten. We have played well against them in the past without getting a point but some of our underage teams over the years have got results against them," he said.
"The rest of the teams in the group are no mugs. Norway are a huge challenge, Israel are an excellent side and Azerbaijan beat Russia 3-0 in the last competition. Kosovo are a new team and I'm sure they will be very patriotic so will be a tough test for everybody.
"We feel we can be competitive in this group. I feel there are teams we can beat in this group and I include Germany in that - on the right day obviously.
"We've an opening game against Kosovo and that'll be their first ever U21 game so it's going to be tough. It's a new campaign - everybody has to be up for it. We’ve retained a lot of players from the last campaign, six or seven of them have that experience which is a new one, and we've got to be positive going into a campaign."
UEFA Euro 2019 under-21 Group 5 fixtures
2017
March 25: Ireland v Kosovo
September 5: Azerbaijan v Ireland
October 5: Ireland v Norway
October 9/10 (TBC): Ireland v Israel
November 14: Norway v Ireland
2018
March 27: Ireland v Azerbaijan
September 7: Kosovo v Ireland
September 11: Ireland v Germany
October 11: Israel v Ireland
October 16: Germany v Ireland
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