Northern Ireland return to League B, with manager Michael O'Neill naming a 28-man squad for the four-match window. The side enter the campaign without captain Conor Bradley, who is out of action following knee surgery in January and is expected to be absent for the entire campaign.
O'Neill told BBC Sport NI last month that it would be a bonus to see the captain before the Euro 2028 qualifiers in March. Bradley, the 23-year-old Liverpool player, has missed seven matches for Northern Ireland since January due to injury or suspension. Since the 1-0 victory over Scotland in March 2024, which was his first international goal, Northern Ireland have averaged 1.5 goals per game in 16 matches with Bradley in the side, whereas in the seven matches he missed the average fell to 0.7 goals per match.
The squad includes 18-year-old Arsenal forward Cead O'Neill, who has made two senior appearances, and there is interest from the Republic of Ireland in the player. Alongside him on the squad are four teenagers: Kieran Morrison, Braiden Graham and Tom Atcheson. The average age of the 28 players named last week was 24. Only Paddy McNair is older than 26 from the starting line-up; the 31-year-old is one of the few experienced players. Alongside McNair, only Dion Charles (30) and Josh Magennis (36) are over 30, both central attacking options.
O'Neill is expected to stick with 21-year-old Jamie Donley in attack. The Tottenham player has scored two goals in 10 matches and started the last five games for Northern Ireland, but has had a difficult 2025-26 season at club level on loan at Stoke City and Oxford United. He will spend the year at Luton Town on loan in League One, with O'Neill saying that what happened to the player last year was not the player's fault. Isaac Price is a more regular source of goals.
Northern Ireland will play four matches in the same window for the first time since June 2022. They will travel to Georgia on 25 September, with the campaign concluding at home against the same side on 5 October. Between those matches, they play Hungary at Windsor Park and Ukraine in Slovakia. In June, 23 players were called up for two friendly matches against Guinea and France.
O'Neill said the schedule is challenging, but his side must adapt to the change. The four-match window will be used again next year in the Euro 2028 qualifiers, with O'Neill judging that it is more challenging for smaller federations but beneficial for larger nations. He added that players will get injured and that two yellow cards mean a suspension.
These are the first matches for Northern Ireland in the second tier of the League of Nations since 2020. The side finished top of League C group with Luxembourg, Belarus and Bulgaria, which secured a path to the World Cup play-offs, but lost 2-0 to Italy in Bergamo. Promotion to League B means that finishing in the top two in the group will see the draw for the European qualifiers in December. O'Neill said the group is balanced, with some teams having a higher rank, and that the games will be extremely difficult, but it is a great challenge.
