Northern Ireland will find out tomorrow (7 November) who they will face in the second edition of the UEFA Women’s Nations League.
Tanya Oxtoby’s team will once again be competing in League B of the competition and they will discover their three opponents in a four-team group at the UWNL draw in Switzerland.
Stage one of the second edition will determine which four teams progress to the finals from League A as well as promotion and relegation between the leagues ahead of the European Qualifiers phase for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil.
And games in the league phase of the competition will get under way in February.
Northern Ireland have been placed in Pot 2 for the League B draw at UEFA HQ in Nyon tomorrow (noon UK time).
Based on the 2024 Women’s European Qualifiers overall phase rankings, the 16 teams in League B will be divided into four draw pots.
From Pot 1 Oxtoby’s team could face Finland, Czechia, Republic of Ireland or Poland.
They will avoid the three other teams in Pot 2: Serbia, Ukraine and Turkiye, while their opponents from Pot 3 will be one of the following: Croatia, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia.
And the Pot 4 sides in the League B draw are Romania, Belarus, Greece and Albania.
The four winners of League B groups in stage one of the competition will be promoted to League A.
The four second-placed teams will play against the third-placed teams in League A. The winner of each tie will play in League A, while the defeated teams will play in League B.
The two best third-placed teams play off against the two best-ranked second-placed teams of League C. The winners will play in League B for the European Qualifiers phase, and the defeated teams will play in League C.
The two lowest-ranked third-placed teams and the four fourth-placed teams will be relegated to League C.
Matchdays 1 and 2 for League B, and for the 16 teams in League A and the 21 teams in League C (including Gibraltar and Liechtenstein for the first time), will be between 19 and 26 February next year.
Matchdays 3 and 4 are scheduled to be staged from 2-8 April and MD 5/6 between 28 May and 3 June.
In addition all promotion/relegation play-offs (two legs) will be staged between 22 and 28 October.
Matches in the European Qualifiers phase for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil will be played in 2026.
