NI could face Republic of Ireland and Scotland in Nations League

All eyes for Northern Ireland are firmly on preparations for the upcoming World Cup play-off against Italy, but players and fans alike will be interested in Thursday’s Uefa Nations League draw to see who they will face later in the year.

Northern Ireland will compete in League B of the fifth edition of the Nations League after they won promotion from League C in 2024.

The latest edition of the competition will start during the newly expanded four-game international window in September and October later this year and run until June 2027.

The draw will take place at the Brussels Expo in Belgium and is set to get under way at 17:00 GMT on Thursday.

Northern Ireland are in pot four for the draw along with the Sweden, North Macedonia and Kosovo, who also won promotion from League C.

Those four teams will face one side from the other three pots.

Pot 1: Scotland, Hungary, Poland and Israel

Pot 2: Switzerland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria and Ukraine

From Pot 1, Northern Ireland could take on Scotland, who will compete at their first World Cup since 1990 this summer.

Michael O’Neill’s side enjoyed a 1-0 victory over the Scots when the two sides met in a friendly at Hampden in March 2024, courtesy of Conor Bradley’s first international goal.

Alternatively, they could come up against Hungary, who missed out on reaching the World Cup play-offs following Troy Parrott’s last-gasp winner for Republic of Ireland in November.

The two sides were previously paired together in the Euro 2016 qualification campaign, with Northern Ireland winning 2-1 away and the home game ending in a 1-1 draw.

Poland and Israel are the remaining two potential opponents in Pot 1 and it has been a while since NI played either of the two teams.

From Pot 2, NI could face familiar foes Switzerland, who denied them a place at the 2018 World Cup and will be at the tournament in USA, Mexico and Canada this summer.

Isaac Price scored a stunning free-kick in a 1-1 draw against the Swiss at Windsor Park in March last year.

Bosnia-Herzegovina are another potential opponent and NI could come up against them in the World Cup play-off final too if they see off Italy and Bosnia beat Wales in their semi-final.

They could also be drawn against either World Cup-bound Austria or Ukraine.

From Pot 3, NI could come up against Slovenia, who won home and away against O’Neill’s side in Euro 2024 qualifying.

They could also face Euro 2024 surprise packing Georgia for the first time in a competitive game. The two sides have only ever met once, in a friendly in March 2008 which NI won 4-1.

A potential intriguing match-up is Northern Ireland being drawn in the same group as Republic of Ireland, who will also compete in next month’s World Cup play-offs.

There have been just two meetings between the teams since the turn of the century.

The Republic won 5-0 in the now-defunct Nations Cup in 2011 and the two teams then played out a goalless draw in a 2018 friendly, with both games taking place in Dublin.

Northern Ireland have not faced the Republic of Ireland in Belfast since 1994.

Rounding off potential Pot 3 opponents are Romania, who also have hopes of featuring in this summer’s World Cup as they take on Turkey in their play-off semi-final next month.

There are four groups containing four teams in Leagues A, B and C and two groups of three teams in League D.

The winners and runners-up in the four League A groups will go through to the quarter-final stage of the tournament to play over two legs in March 2027, with semi-finals and finals in June 2027.

There are also play-offs for promotion and relegation from leagues A-C at the same time in March 2027.

The best-performing teams in the Nations League that do not qualify for the 2028 European Championships from the qualification campaign will enter to play-offs to earn the final qualifying spots for the tournament.

Topping Group C3 in 2024 gave Northern Ireland a backdoor route to the play-offs for the World Cup and doing well in League B could offer a similar passage to Euro 2028 if O’Neill’s side do not qualify automatically.

Nations League schedule:

Matchday 1: 24-26 September

Matchday 2: 27-29 September

Matchday 3: 30 September-3 October

Matchday 4: 4-6 October

Matchday 5: 12-14 November

Matchday 6: 15-17 November

League A quarter-finals: 25-30 March 2027

League A/B and B/C play-offs: 25-30 March 2027

Final tournament: 9-13 June 2027