2026 Friendlies: Wales vs Northern Ireland

Following their eliminations from the 2026 FIFA World Cup Play-Offs, Wales meet Northern Ireland in a friendly. 

Wales come into this match off a dramatic penalty shootout loss to Bosnia & Herzegovina after a 1-1 draw, whilst Northern Ireland were comfortably beaten 2-0 by Italy.

 

Team News

Wales have released Rubin Colwill and Jordan James from international duty due to injury concerns.

Northern Ireland will be without Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Ruairi McConville, Paddy McNair and Ali McCann, after the quartet were released from international duty.

 

When is Kick-Off?

Wales host Northern Ireland at Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday 31 March at 7:45pm BST, live on BBC One in Wales and Northern Ireland regions, plus S4C in Wales region.

BBC Three will broadcast network coverage across the UK, whilst UK-based viewers can also watch the match on BBC iPlayer.

 

Stat Attack

• Wales are unbeaten in their last nine matches against Northern Ireland (W5, D4).
• Northern Ireland have won one of their last five away trips to Wales (W1, D3, L1).
• Wales have kept clean sheets in three of their last four meetings against Northern Ireland (W2, D2), except for a 1-1 friendly draw in March 2016.
• Wales have kept one clean sheet in their last six matches (W2, D1, L3).
• Northern Ireland have won one of their last five away matches (W1, L4).

 

Prediction

Having blown leads in both normal time and their eventual shootout defeat to Bosnia & Herzegovina, Wales now just need to reset and start to build some momentum ready for the Autumn’s UEFA Nations League campaign but questions will be asked about their game management at 1-0 up in that game.

Northern Ireland meanwhile weren’t expected to beat Italy but they can be proud of how hard they worked the Italians from a defensive perspective, but this is a chance to come out and show their attacking quality now in a game where they will be able to pose more threat going forward.

This friendly though isn’t exactly ideal for both teams after such tough defeats to end their World Cup qualification dreams, so I am not expecting much and a draw feels like a fair call.

Prediction: Wales 1-1 Northern Ireland

Result: Wales 1-1 Northern Ireland