Northern Ireland will begin their second UEFA Women’s Nations League campaign with a tough assignment against Poland in Gdansk tonight.
Their opponents are the top seeds in League B Group 1 and senior women’s team boss Tanya Oxtoby is expecting “a great challenge” at the Gdansk Stadium.
Poland, who are ranked 28th in the world compared to Northern Ireland in 44th, will be playing at UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 in Switzerland this summer after negotiating play-offs against Romania and Austria. It’s the first major tournament Poland Women have qualified for.
Oxtoby said her players were “excited and really looking forward to the game”.
She pointed out: “We know what Poland are going to bring. They have just qualified for a major tournament. It’s going to be a great challenge for us away from home first up in this campaign.
“We are ready for it and looking forward to challenging ourselves and continuing on our journey.”
Northern Ireland, who are second seeds in League B Group 1, have played the Poles three times in the past and have lost all three games. The most recent match was in 2015 in the Istria Cup in Croatia, a match which the Polish won 2-0.
Oxtoby said her players have trained well this week ahead of the encounter in the port city of Gdansk and the game against third seeds Bosnia and Herzegovina at Larne’s Inver Park on Tuesday.
The star player in Nina Patalon’s Poland squad is Barcelona forward Ewa Pajor. The 28-year-old has scored 64 goals for her country in 95 appearances.
Ewelina Kamczyk, who has 93 caps, is another mainstay. The 28-year-old midfielder, who plays her club football with FC Fleury 91 in France, has scored 15 senior international goals.
The Polish squad has an experienced spine. West Ham United keeper Kinga Szemik (27) has just 23 caps, however the regular back four is made up of players who have 50 caps or more under their belts.
Paulina Dudek (27) of Paris Saint-Germain has made 53 appearances for Poland, scoring seven goals, while Malgorzata Mesjasz (27) of AC Milan has netted four times in 50 games. FC Koln pair Martyna Wiankowska (28) and Sylwia Matysik (27) have 86 and 61 caps respectively. Wiankowska has also 10 goals to her name.
Usually operating alongside Kamczyk in the engine room is 26-year-old Dominika Grabowska (80 caps, 9 goals) and 25-year-old Weronika Zawistowska (36 caps, 8 goals) who both play their club football in Germany, with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich respectively.
Younger players beginning to make their mark on the international stage include FC Basel defenders Wiktoria Zieniewicz (22), who has 16 caps, and Oliwia Wos (25), who also has 16 caps.
Glasgow City midfielder Natalia Wrobel, aged 21, has scored twice in 15 appearances for her country, while up front is another star in the making in 22-year-old Natalia Padilla-Bidas. The young striker, who plays for Sevilla, has netted 11 goals in 37 appearances for Poland.
Poland’s last nine goals have been scored by Padilla-Bidas (five) and Pajor (four).
Tonight’s UWNL game between Poland and Northern Ireland at the Gdansk Stadium kicks off at 19.45 GMT.
Tickets are still available for the UWNL match against the Bosnians in Larne on Tuesday (25 February) at irishfa.com/tickets.
Training in Gdansk
