Draws for major international football tournaments are the spark that lights up hope, and so it was yesterday when the teams were determined for the 2025 edition of the UEFA Women’s Nations League.
Having learned from playing against England, Sweden, and France, memorably beating the last of them at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh this year, the Republic of Ireland were nonetheless relegated back to League B.
Yesterday in Nyon, they were drawn into Group B2 in the 2025 UEFA Women’s Nations League, where they will take on Türkiye, Slovenia and Greece.
Northern Ireland will face Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Romania in group B1.
“We now know our opponents for the next UEFA Nations League campaign, which will help us plan and prepare for the games,” said ROI Head Coach Eileen Gleeson.
“Promotion to League A is the overall aim for the upcoming Nations League campaign to ensure we compete at the highest level and maximise opportunities to qualify for major tournaments.”
“For now, our focus remains on the UEFA EURO 2025 Qualifying Play-Off against Cymru with two huge games away in Cardiff on November 29th and home in Aviva Stadium on December 3rd. We look forward to seeing our fans at the Aviva on December 3rd and thank them for your continued support.”
Both sides have Qualifier Play-offs for Euro 2025 to look forward to, with the Republic beating Georgia and Northern Ireland notably beating Croatia.
They now face Cymru, and Northern Ireland will play Norway at the end of this month and the beginning of next.
Matchdays 1 and 2 for League B will be between 19 and 26 February next year.
Matchdays 3 and 4 are scheduled to be staged from 2-8 April, and Matchdays 5 and 6 between 28 May and 3 June, completing before the Euro Finals starting on July 2nd.
All promotion/relegation play-offs will be staged over two legs between 22 and 28 October, and the whole of the tournament will determine seedings for the qualification phase for the World Cup in Brazil, which will be played in 2026.
Plenty then to look forward to.
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