UEFA Women's Nations League - Republic of Ireland v Northern Ireland: All you need to know

UEFA WOMEN'S NATIONS LEAGUE

Republic of Ireland v Northern Ireland, Aviva Stadium, 1pm

TV

Watch live coverage from 12.30pm Saturday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.

RADIO

Listen to live commentary on RTÉ 2fm.

ONLINE

Follow updates via a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app.

WEATHER

Saturday will start largely dry with some sunny spells, however early brightness will be replaced by wet and breezy weather, gradually moving up northwards across the region. Highest temperatures of 15 to 17 degrees with mostly fresh to strong south to southeast winds.

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EUROS DREAMS HINGE PARTIALLY ON NATIONS LEAGUE

It's the start of a new era for the Republic of Ireland - more on that later - but it's also one for UEFA with the advent of the Women's Nations League.

Following on from the slightly older men's version of the tournament, competitive games against European opponents of similar stature will largely replace friendlies.

But the new competition will also have a direct knock on effect on the battle to qualify for the 2025 Women's European Championships, with Ireland looking to build on this summer's historic first World Cup appearance by getting to another major tournament.

They are in League B, the second of three tiers, in a round-robin group with Northern Ireland, Hungary and Albania and the Irish side will be aiming to earn promotion to the elite 16-team layer of League A for the Euro 2025 qualifiers which will use the exact same tiered and grouped format.

You can read about the Nations