Northern Ireland to play England later on this month

Northern Ireland's Women's manager Kenny Shiels

Northern Ireland's Women's manager Kenny Shiels Credit: Michael P Ryan (ETPhotos)

Northern Ireland will play England in an international friendly on Tuesday 23rd February at St George's Park as Northern Ireland step up preparations for their Euro 2022 playoff fixture.

With the playoff in April Kenny Shiels side were in need of warm-up games going into that tie and will play the nation who are ranked sixth in the world. 

It will be the first meeting of the two countries since 2008 when England picked up a 2-0 win with goals from Fara Williams and Faye White. 

England appointed Hege Riise as interim boss last month so this will be the Norwegians first game in charge of the Lionesses. 

On the fixture Shiels said "This is a brilliant fixture and a great opportunity forthe girls to experience It's one we look forward to.

“England have some of the best players in the world and rank right up beside USA, Germany, Netherlands and Norway as the best women’s teams in the world.”

This fixture marks England's first competitive fixture in almost a year due to the covid and the country not needing to qualify for Euro 2022 as they are the hosts. 

Meanwhile Northern Ireland are going into the game with four wins in a row under their belt for the first time in their history beating Faroe Island's and Belarus back to back. 

The match will be available to watch on the BBC Iplayer and the Red Button.