Northern Ireland are lining up friendlies in March at home to Switzerland and away to Sweden as Michael O’Neill’s team build up to the World Cup qualifiers later this year.
The Belfast Telegraph understands that the Irish FA are in discussions with their Swiss and Swedish counterparts with the plan to announce the double header once final agreement is reached with the specific dates to be confirmed.
The proposed fixtures would represent attractive opposition for Northern Ireland who enjoyed a successful 2024 and are determined to maintain momentum ahead of the World Cup group games which start in September in Luxembourg.
O’Neill’s young squad won their Nations League group last year and produced a number of impressive performances, not least a stunning 5-0 demolition of Bulgaria in Belfast when Isaac Price netted a hat-trick.
A match with Switzerland in March would bring back memories of the infamous World Cup play-off in 2017 in which the visitors claimed a 1-0 first leg success at Windsor Park courtesy of a controversial penalty. The return ended 0-0 with the Swiss going through to the finals in Russia 1-0 on aggregate.
Northern Ireland have played Switzerland twice since then, with Ian Baraclough in charge, earning a scoreless draw at home in a World Cup qualifier in September 2021 and losing 2-0 a month later in Geneva where Jamal Lewis was sent off.
The last time Northern Ireland defeated the Swiss was in 1998 when, under Lawrie McMenemy, they won a friendly 1-0 in Belfast.
It has been 18 years since Northern Ireland faced Sweden drawing 1-1 away in a Euro Championship qualifier having beaten them 2-1 at Windsor Park earlier in the campaign with a double from David Healy.
Last week Sweden announced that they will travel to Luxembourg to play a friendly on March 22.
Also in March Northern Ireland fans will find out whether their team will be playing Germany or Italy in the World Cup qualifiers.
The winners of the Nations League play-off tie between the two superpowers will face O’Neill’s side along with Slovakia and Luxembourg in group games for the 2026 World Cup finals.