Northern Ireland Women's star Caragh Hamilton highlights importance of fast start in UEFA Euro 2025 qualifier against Portugal

​Tanya Oxtoby’s side have made an unbeaten start to their League B Group Three campaign after following up last month’s goalless draw with Malta by beating Bosnia & Herzegovina 3-1 thanks to goals from Lauren Wade, Megan Bell and Simone Magill.

That result means Northern Ireland have only lost one of their last seven matches – a 6-1 defeat to the Republic of Ireland the sole blemish during that run – while they also successfully navigated their Nations League play-off by beating Montenegro over two legs in February.

However, hosts Portugal also come into this tie in fine form, winning their first two group matches while they competed in the World Cup last summer, impressively drawing with the United States of America before finishing third in Group E.

It’s a huge test for Northern Ireland, who will face the same opposition at Mourneview Park on Tuesday, and Lewes attacker Hamilton feels it’s important they capitalise on any opportunities that come their way.

"It has been quite difficult...off-season looks different with people looking different things from it,” she said. “People were definitely ready for a bit of a rest and I think it’s important you get that to mentally recover and be in a good headspace coming here.

"We’ve spoke numerous times about the start being really important and particularly against a side like Portugal who are at home, want to dictate possession...it’s important we start really well and if we get opportunities early in the game to catch them when they maybe aren’t expecting it. We have to capitalise.

"We know it’s going to be really important to stay in the game for as long as possible.

"If you put yourself out of the game early on then it’s going to be really difficult to come back from.

"The start is really important to figure out and assess what they are doing, but also to get our structures and everything we’re doing right.”

The two teams are separated by 25 places in the world rankings with Portugal sitting 21st while Northern Ireland are 46th, but their position has improved by four spots since August, coinciding with the appointment of former Chelsea assistant manager Oxtoby.

They’re currently only one position behind the country’s best-ever ranking since the system was introduced and Reading goalkeeper Jackie Burns, who returned for last month’s games after recovering from injuries which kept her out of action last year, wants to put training work into practice.

"We always knew Portugal would be a tough game and it was going to be a tougher challenge than what we expected against Bosnia,” she said. “We just have to remember the fact it’s going to be hard and compared to Bosnia it’ll be a different game in terms of possession and we want to retain that as much as we can.

"For us, it’s important to focus on what we’ve worked on this week and sticking to that strategy...all being well it should work in our favour.”