Northern Ireland’s Nations League fixtures confirmed
Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill
Northern Ireland will kick-off their Nations League campaign at home to Luxembourg in September.
On Thursday, Michael O’Neill’s side were drawn in a League C group with Luxembourg, Bulgaria and Belarus.
Luxembourg will visit Windsor Park on Thursday 5 September before jetting off to face second seeds Bulgaria away on Sunday 8 September.
The third match will see O’Neill men play Belarus away on Saturday 12 October. However, it has not been determined where this clash will be played. In the last campaign, Belarus played home games behind closed doors in Hungary due to the war in Ukraine.
A few days later, Northern Ireland will welcome Bulgaria to Windsor Park on Tuesday 15 October.
Matchday five will see Northern Ireland take on Belarus in Belfast on Friday 15 November before they face Luxembourg for a second time, away on Monday 18 November.
Northern Ireland are due to play four friendlies – two in March (both away, against Romania and Scotland) and two in June. The opposition has not been confirmed for the summer friendlies, although reports suggest that the Ulstermen will face Spain in Barcelona.
The winners of the four groups in League C will be automatically promoted to League B in the next edition of the competition. And the third-ranked teams of League B and the runners-up of League C will have to play a home-and-away promotion/relegation play-off.
There will also be play-offs between the two best-ranked fourth-placed teams from League C and the two runners-up from League D. The two lowest-ranked fourth-placed teams in League C, meanwhile, will be relegated to League D.
Northern Ireland v Luxembourg, Thursday 5 September
Bulgaria v Northern Ireland, Sunday 8 September
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