Northern Ireland are set to face Poland, Finland and Belarus in phase one of the third edition of the UEFA Women’s Nations League.
Michael McArdle’s team will be the third seeds in League B Group 3, with Poland the top seeds.
Their opponents in the four-team B3 group in 2027 were revealed in today’s draw staged at UEFA HQ in Nyon, Switzerland.
Northern Ireland were in Pot 3 for the draw, while Poland were a League B Pot 1 team. Finland were drawn from Pot 2 and Belarus from Pot 4.
Poland are currently ranked 29th in the world, while Finland are in 22nd position in the FIFA Coca-Cola Women’s World Rankings. Northern Ireland are ranked 52nd just now and Belarus are in 46th position.
Both Poland and Finland will be in European Qualifiers play-off finals next month for a place at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil next year. The Poles are due to face the Republic of Ireland over two legs and Finland are set to take on Italy.
Belarus reached the first round of those World Cup play-offs – just like Northern Ireland. Belarus lost out to the Italians over two legs last month, while Northern Ireland were defeated by Portugal in October.
Stage one of the third edition of the UEFA Women’s Nations League will determine which four teams progress to the finals from League A as well as promotion and relegation between three leagues ahead of the 2028/29 qualifiers phase for the Women’s Euros in 2029.
The 54 UEFA member associations participating in the competition have been divided into three leagues based on their positions in the final overall 2026 Women's European Qualifiers rankings.
League A has 16 teams, League B has 16 teams and League C has 22 teams, including San Marino who have entered a senior women's competition for the first time.
In League B the four group winners will be promoted to League A for the qualifiers for UEFA Women's Euro 2029.
The four second-placed teams will play over two legs against the third-placed teams in League A. The winners of each tie will play in League A, while the defeated teams will play in League B.
The two best third-placed teams will play over two legs against the two best-ranked second-placed teams of League C. The winners will play in League B for the Euro Qualifiers phase, while the defeated teams will play in League C.
The two lowest ranked third-placed teams and the four fourth-placed teams will be relegated to League C.
Matchdays one and two in the UEFA Women’s Nations League 2027 will be between 23 February and 6 March next year, and matchdays three and four will be staged between 13 and 24 April. The two final matchdays (five and six) are pencilled in for 7-15 June.
The finals (for the top four League A sides) will be played across October, November and December, while promotion/relegation matches are scheduled to take place between 4 and 12 October next year.
Image: Special guest Annike Krahn (a former Women’s World Cup winner with Germany) draws out the card of Northern Ireland during the UEFA Women's Nations League 2027 draw at UEFA HQ in Switzerland.
