Michael O'Neill clear 'we have to be able to win at this level' amid Northern Ireland's major tournament goal
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill insists his side “believe we can compete” in their Nations League group – and knows they need to prove themselves against higher-ranked opposition to underline major tournament ambitions.
O’Neill’s men will get their League B campaign underway against Georgia, who sit two places lower in FIFA’s rankings, on Friday but then face a step up in competition in terms of placements.
Monday's opponents Hungary sit 39th – 31 places higher than Northern Ireland – while Ukraine are 33rd and seeded as the best side in League B Group Two.
Northern Ireland have faced some of the world’s top teams over recent years, taking on powerhouses Spain, Germany, Italy and France – tests which O’Neill hopes will stand his side in good stead following Nations League promotion.
Throughout their successful League C run in 2024, Northern Ireland came up against teams currently ranked 85th (Bulgaria), 96th (Belarus) and 98th (Luxembourg) in FIFA’s standings.
Northern Ireland’s talented young squad have been able to take most challenges in their stride, and O’Neill knows the value of picking up results as they look to achieve their main objective of major tournament qualification.
"This is a really high level,” said O’Neill. “You will play teams who either will play at a World Cup or qualify for Euro 2028, you're playing against teams of that calibre.
"You're not playing against the top nations, but for us as a small nation this is a big test. We know to qualify for a major tournament we have to be able to win at this level.
"We want to do as well in this group as possible. I think it's a tight group, teams are well matched. I think the strongest team maybe on paper is Hungary, but we all believe we can compete in this group."
With FIFA merging September and October’s international windows, O’Neill has an extended period of time with his Northern Ireland squad.
They’ll face four Nations League matches in 11 days but also have to deal with tricky travel logistics – Northern Ireland’s flight back to Belfast for Monday’s clash with Hungary is around five hours before they’re on the road to Slovakia to play Ukraine on Friday.
"It is (a benefit to have players for longer), but you don't have a huge amount of time,” added O’Neill. “We have had four days prep (into the Georgia game) and have had to travel.
"We have a very quick turnaround between Friday and Monday, and then we have another few days but we have to prep and travel again.
"Those are the challenges and the things the players have to adapt to.
"Some of the younger players have not been in that environment before, they've played tournament football at U19s or U21s, so it's the ability to recover and be ready to play and deal with changes you might have to make between games.
"We're used to doing that, we've done it for a number of years, and we're delighted with how the camp has gone so far.”