Northern Ireland’s World Cup Ambitions - who has made the squad?

2024 was a fairly successful year for the Northern Ireland national team, getting promoted from League C in the UEFA Nations League, now they set their sights on a bigger goal - qualifying for the World Cup.

Recent success for the Green and White Army

Things went well for Northern Ireland in the 2024/25 Nations League campaign, as they topped their group to get promoted to League B. Michael O’Neill’s side picked up three wins and two draws along the way including their joint-best result in the nation’s history, winning 5-0 against Bulgaria. They also picked up an unexpected friendly win away at Scotland, winning 1-0. But what is next for the Green and White Army?

The road to the 2026 FIFA World Cup

The USA, Canada and Mexico will host the World Cup next year, a tournament Northern Ireland haven’t competed in since 1958 when they reached the quarter-finals. Now nobody would expect this current team to replicate such success, but there is a reality where the GAWA could make a second appearance in the world’s biggest sports tournament. Northern Ireland have a great chance to finish second in Group A of the World Cup qualifiers, as they have been drawn against Slovakia, Luxembourg and one of Italy and Germany. You would expect one of the latter teams to comfortably top the group, but it’s reasonable to think that Northern Ireland could beat both Slovakia and Luxembourg. With that in mind, let’s take a look at who has made the squad for the upcoming friendly matches before the qualifying campaign gets underway in September.

An exciting squad selected by Michael O’Neill

Conor Hazard impressed the world with his performance for Plymouth against Liverpool in the FA Cup earlier this season, and O’Neill will be hoping Hazard can produce similar heroics for the national side. In defence, both Conor Bradley and Daniel Ballard are absent through injury, but there is a welcomed return to the side for Paddy McNair, who has been getting regular football once again for San Diego FC in the MLS. In the midfield, there is Premier League representation as Crystal Palace’s Justin Devenny is called up once again. Previous Northern Ireland captain Shea Carles is in the squad once again and he has been impressing for Sheffield Wednesday this season. Another impressive midfielder this season has been West Brom’s new signing Isaac Price, and he makes the squad on this occasion. There is a lack of goals in the NI attack, but O’Neill hopes he has found the solution, with England youth international Jamie Donley making the switch to Northern Ireland. The striker has been on loan at Leyton Orient this season and made his mark on national TV, scoring a wonder goal against Manchester City in the FA Cup.