Northern Ireland’s wait for World Cup qualifiers to start suits Michael O’Neill

Michael O’Neill is more than happy to wait until September for Northern Ireland’s World Cup qualifying campaign to get under way as he focuses instead on friendlies against Switzerland and Sweden.

The road to next summer’s tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada opens up this week with Wales and England among those beginning their qualifying campaigns, but Northern Ireland must wait another six months after being drawn into one of the four-nation groups rather than one with five.

Given their strong form in 2024, Northern Ireland might have fancied getting stuck in straightaway but they will instead play friendlies both this month and in June while they wait to learn if Italy or Germany will join them in Group A alongside Slovakia or Luxembourg.

For O’Neill, a manager long known for his attention to detail, having more time to prepare a young squad is no problem at all.

He also pointed to the benefit of starting a campaign at a better point in the domestic season, while avoiding competitive fixtures during the summer international window.

“Personally I prefer to start the qualification campaign in September,” O’Neill told the PA news agency. “I just think it feels better. March has always been difficult. A lot of clubs have a lot at stake in March, whether they’re fighting relegation or challenging for trophies or for promotion.

“So March is always a test in terms of player availability. June is never ideal for us because a lot of our players play in the Football League which finishes in the first week of May so to ask them to come and play in mid-June, there’s a lot of preparation and players have to manage themselves.