Northern Ireland will face familiar opponents in stage one of the FIFA World Cup 2026 European qualifiers next autumn.
In four-team Group A they will play either Germany or Italy as well as Slovakia and Luxembourg.
International challenge matches will be arranged for the senior men's team in both March and June ahead of the World Cup qualifiers, which will get under way in September.
Northern Ireland, of course, met Luxembourg twice this year. They defeated them 2-0 in Belfast and drew with them 2-2 away as they won UEFA Nations League Group C3 in the autumn.
It’s the second time Northern Ireland have been drawn in a WCQ group with Luxembourg. The previous time was in 2013 when they drew 1-1 in Belfast and lost 3-2 in Luxembourg.
Michael O’Neill has taken charge of the team on five occasions against Luxembourg, winning two, losing two and drawing once.
The Germans and Italians will play each other in the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals in March and the winner of that last eight tie will then meet Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Luxembourg in the Group A qualifiers next autumn.
Northern Ireland’s last outing against Italy was a 0-0 draw in a FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifier in Belfast in November 2021.
They have never played Italy during Michael O’Neill’s time in charge, while their only victory over Italy came in January 1958 when they beat them 2-1 in Belfast to qualify for the 1958 World Cup finals in Sweden.
Northern Ireland have faced the Italians in two previous WCQ campaigns, winning once, drawing once and losing two across the four games.
The boys in green and white have previously faced the Germans (Germany/West Germany) in three World Cup qualification campaigns.
Michael O’Neill has taken charge of the national team in five games against Germany, losing all five.
The team’s last encounter against Germany was O’Neill’s final game in charge during his first spell in the hotseat back in November 2019; they lost a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier 6-1 in Frankfurt.
Northern Ireland’s only wins against the Germans have come in Euro qualifiers. In fact they won back-to-back ECQ games against West Germany in November 1982 (1-0 in Belfast) and November 1983 (1-0 in Hamburg).
The last time Northern Ireland played Slovakia was at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park in November 2020. It was a Euro 2020 play-off (delayed due to the Covid pandemic) and Northern Ireland lost 2-1 after extra time.
They faced the Slovakians in one previous WCQ campaign - for the 2010 World Cup. They lost 2-1 away and 2-0 at home.
Northern Ireland’s only victory over Slovakia came in March 1998 when they won 1-0 in a friendly at Windsor Park.
Michael O’Neill has met the Slovakians just once as Northern Ireland boss. The two countries faced each other in a friendly in Trnava in June 2016 – ahead of Northern Ireland going to the Euros in France – and that game ended in a scoreless draw.
