Northern Ireland will be seeded in Friday’s draw for the first round of UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 play-offs, it has been confirmed.
Last night’s 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in Belfast ensured Tanya Oxtoby’s team were one of the three best-ranked runners-up in League B in the league phase of the Women’s Euro qualifiers.
It means Northern Ireland have been seeded for Round 1 Path 2 of the play-offs for the draw at UEFA headquarters in Switzerland.
The Women's European Qualifiers play-off draw in Nyon at noon BST on Friday (19 July) will set the ties for two rounds of two-legged contests as 28 teams compete for the last seven finals slots at UEFA Women's Euro 2025 in Switzerland from 2 to 27 July next year.
The draw for both rounds will be made at UEFA HQ, with R1 matches played between 23 and 29 October and R2 games between 27 November and 3 December.
In Round 1 Path 2 the three group winners (other than hosts Switzerland) and three best-ranked runners-up in League B will be drawn into six ties against the remaining play-off contenders from League B. The six winners progress to the second round.
Northern Ireland, as a seeded team, cannot be drawn against Portugal, Scotland, Wales, Serbia or Ukraine in R1 Path 2.
Instead their opponents in the home-and-away tie will either be Turkiye, Croatia, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia or Azerbaijan.
As Switzerland finished as a League B winner, the best-ranked fourth-placed team of League B (Azerbaijan) completed the R1 Path 2 play-off line-up and the draw seeding for the six ties was adjusted accordingly.
In R1 Path 1 the teams finishing third and fourth in League A will play the five group winners and three best-ranked runners-up in League C. The eight winners progress to the second round.
The seeded teams in R1 Path 1 are Sweden, Norway, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Czechia, Republic of Ireland and Poland, while the unseeded teams are Slovenia, Romania, Belarus, Greece, Albania, Luxembourg, Montenegro and Geogia.
Seeded teams in the R2 draw will bethe winners of R1 Path 1 ties involving Sweden, Norway, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Czechia and Republic of Ireland.
The winners of the R1 Path 1 tie involving Poland and the winners of the six R1 ties from Path 2 will be unseeded in the R2 draw.
The seven winners of the Round 2 home-and-away ties will join hosts Switzerland and the teams that finished in the top two positions in the four League A groups in the 16 December finals draw in Lausanne, Switzerland. The direct qualifiers are Denmark, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands and Spain.
Going in to last night’s qualifier Tanya Oxtoby’s side were neck and neck with Bosnia and Herzegovina in League B Group 3 – on seven points and just ahead of them on goal difference.
But second half goals from midfielder Joely Andrews and substitute Lauren Wade ensured Northern Ireland finished second in the group behind Portugal with 10 points from six games.
