On the whole games go as per ranking and the favourites generally win out.
See Northern Ireland 7-0 aggregate Euro 2025 Play-off defeat to Norway for an example of that.
It’s not always the case though, as many of Tanya Oxtoby’s squad can testify. They weren’t supposed to make the Women’s Euro 2022 Finals, but enjoyed a wonderful fortnight in Southanpton despite the fact that when it came to it the better teams won the matches.
If the current group, which is split almost down the middle between those who can talk of that summer spent on England’s south coast and those who are striving to experience that themselves, are going to make their mark in Europe now is the time.
As the second staging of the Women’s Nations League begins opportunity knocks for Northern Ireland. An opportunity to break into Europe’s elite.
Poland, who Northern Ireland will face in the opening game of their League B campaign in Gdansk on Friday evening (7.45pm), are a mixed bag of a team. Results suggest that they are too good for League B, but not good enough to challenge and compete in League A .
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They were unbeaten while winning five out of six in the Nations League last time around, resulting in promotion to the top bracket.
When it game of Euros qualifying against the elite nations the Poles failed to pick up a single point in their group, but eventually managed to get the better of group opponents Austria in the Play-offs, winning 1-0 each time.
The nature of the Nations League means playing against similarly matched teams and with the Poles ranked 19th in Europe while Northern Ireland have risen to 25th the gap is narrow enough to make a surprise and a bucking of the trend a possibility.
“We know what Poland is going to bring,” said Oxtoby.
“They’ve just qualified for a major tournament and it’s going to be a great challenge for us away from home first up in this campaign.
“We’re ready for it, we’re looking forward to challenging ourselves and continuing on our journey.”
The ultimate destination on that journey that Oxtoby and her players mention regularly is another major tournament.
This summer’s Euros was a bridge too far. Norway were always expected to be far too strong in that Play-off Final. Topping Poland, who are building towards Switzerland in July, and breaking into League A can flip things on the road to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil as League A nations are guaranteed a Play-off against a lower ranked team. That is the scenario Northern Ireland want.
That journey starts now.
A positive result in the Polsat Plus Arena, where Villareal beat Manchester United in the 2021 Europa League Final, is the first step.
Tanya Oxtoby has her sights set on leading Northern Ireland into Nations League A
Despite the heavy defeat over two legs against Norway there was real optimism about Oxtoby and her players. They spoke about how pleased they were at taking the game to the Norwegians in the second leg. That will only be worth something if they can do the same against a Poland team littered with quality that is spread across a number of top European clubs – captain Ewa Pajor of Barcelona is their star, but she also has team mates at AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris St Germain and Sevilla.
In contrast Oxtoby turned to an uncapped 18-year-old who isn’t even a regular starter in the Irish League when she needed injury cover.
Kascie Weir’s call-up is a sign of how the manager is building towards the future while working off the foundation she has already laid.
“We’ve spoken at length that if you are good enough that you will get an opportunity and the door is open,” she said.
“We’ve been monitoring the under-19s pretty closely and the under-17s below that too.
“We want to provide opportunities for our young talent and Kascie coming in is another example of that.”
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Publish date : 2025-02-19 16:00:00
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