Northern Ireland manager Tanya Oxtoby says she is looking forward to “a great challenge” in their qualifying group for the 2027 World Cup.
Switzerland, Turkey and Malta will provide the opposition in Group B2 for the qualifiers that begin on 3 March, with the teams playing each other home and away.
Euro 2025 hosts Switzerland reached the second phase of the competition before falling to Spain, yet they since suffered relegation from National League A.
Northern Ireland failed to qualify for the summer’s continental tournament, but did face Malta in qualifying with a scoreless draw between the teams preceding a 2-0 win for Northern Ireland in Malta.
Turkey retrained their place in League B with a relegation play-off victory over Kosovo.
“I am really happy with the draw. It’s a really exciting variety of opponents for us,” Oxtoby said.
“It will be great to challenge ourselves against a really exciting young Swiss team that I had the pleasure of watching at the Euros (in Switzerland back in the summer). It will be a great challenge for us to pit ourselves against them.
“Obviously Malta are a team we’ve played before, and we know what to expect. With Turkey it’s a little bit of the unknown, but again it’s going to be a great challenge.”
Oxtoby added that the “great mix of different opponents” would be beneficial in helping the Northern Ireland team continue their growth journey together.
Northern Ireland missed out on a place in the A section following their two-leg defeat by Iceland in the Nations League play-offs.
The group winners will qualify for League A and secure a first-round play-off against a second of third-place League B side, but the team that finishes bottom will be eliminated.