The draw for the first-ever UEFA Women’s Nations League has pitched the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland alongside each other in Group B1.
The sides will be joined by Hungary and Albania with each of the four teams playing each other home and away between September 20th and December 5th this year.
They last met in the last World Cup Qualifiers when the Republic came out on top 2-0 in Belfast and 4-0 in Dublin with Leanne Kiernan and Katie McCabe both scoring two goals.
Vera Pauw’s side is the top seed in the group, and Northern Ireland the second-seeded.
The group winners will be promoted to League A and stand the best chance of further qualification for the Euro 2025 Championships in Switzerland.
The second-placed team will play against a third-placed team from League A. The winner of those matches will play in League A; the defeated teams will stay in League B.
In the opposite direction, the three best third-placed teams play off against the three best-ranked second-placed teams of League C. The winners play in League B; the defeated teams will play in League C.
The lowest-ranked third-placed team and the four fourth-placed teams are relegated to League C.
Promotion to League A would mean that both Ireland teams could qualify directly by finishing in the top two of the second League A, and go into a play-off against the highest positions teams in League C if they come third or fourth.
The League B teams would face their own qualification stream before the two come together for a second-round play-off to secure a spot in Switzerland.
Speaking after the draw Pauw said that while the focus in the coming weeks would be on the World Cup Finals in Australia this summer, it was interesting to know what we have to look forward to.
Each of the Republic of Ireland home games will be played at Tallaght Stadium, with the games all wrapped into a stand alone Women’s National Team Season Ticket going on sale this coming Friday.
