NI boss Baraclough aiming for World Cup spot in Qatar

Ian Baraclough’s main wish for 2021 is for Northern Ireland to seal a place at the next World Cup finals.

The senior men’s team’s FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualification campaign begins in March and continues throughout this year.

And the Northern Ireland manager said his hope is that Northern Ireland will have secured their place at the tournament in the Arabian Peninsula by the end of 2021.

He insisted: “I know it’s going to be tough, however we played well in quite a few of our UEFA Nations League games towards the end of 2020 and we can take great heart from that.

“Our aim is to qualify and everybody involved in the set-up is focused on that. We haven’t been to a World Cup since 1986 and we would love to rectify that.”

His team’s campaign in European Qualifying Group C begins with an away match against Italy on 25 March and finishes with a home fixture against the Italians, who are top seeds in the group, on 15 November.

Game two for Northern Ireland, who are seeded third in the group, will be against Bulgaria (fourth seeds) at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park on 31 March, while the boys in green and white are due to come up against fifth seeds Lithuania away on 2 September.

Next up are two games against Switzerland (second seeds) - in Belfast on 8 September and away on 9 October - followed by a trip to Bulgaria on 12 October.

Their penultimate match in Group C is set to be staged on 12 November when they will take on Lithuania in Belfast. It will be followed by the home game against the Italians three days later.