Northern Ireland will open against Malta in Women's Euro 2025 qualifying league phase
Northern Ireland’s senior women’s team will face Malta in the first of their six matches in the league phase of qualifiers for UEFA Women’s Euro 2025.
The four teams in League B Group 3 - Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland and Malta - are set to face each other home and away across six matchdays between April and July.
Northern Ireland’s first group game, against Malta on Friday 5 April, will be a home fixture.
And matchday two will see Tanya Oxtoby’s team take on the Bosnians away on Tuesday 9 April.
Northern Ireland’s third fixture is another away game. They are due to face the group’s top seeds, Portugal, on Friday 31 May. Then, on Tuesday 4 June, it’s the return fixture with the Portuguese.
Their B3 fixtures will draw to a close with an away game against Malta on Friday 12 July and a home encounter against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday 16 July.
The venues for all of the group games have still to be confirmed, as have kick-off times, while tickets for the various games will go on sale soon.
Top seeds Portugal were relegated into League B after finishing bottom of a UEFA Women’s Nations League group that also featured France, Austria and Norway. They won one and lost five.
Bosnia and Herzegovina stayed in League B after finishing runners-up in their group with three wins, two draws and one defeat, while Malta topped their group in League C with five wins and a draw.
Tanya Oxtoby’s side finished third in their B group but retained their place in League B after winning a promotion/relegation play-off against Montenegro last week.
Earlier this week Northern Ireland boss Oxtoby revealed she is happy with the opposition her squad will face in the league phase of the Women’s Euro 2025 qualifiers.
“I am really, really happy in terms of our group. It looks like a really good mix of opponents,” she said.