What has changed for NI since Nations League?
International friendly: Northern Ireland v Switzerland
Venue: Windsor Park, Belfast Date: Friday, 21 March Time: 19:45 GMT
Coverage: Watch on BBC Northern Ireland & iPlayer; listen on BBC Radio Ulster & Sounds; live text coverage & in-play clips on the BBC Sport website & app
The start of Northern Ireland's World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign may still be almost six months away but Michael O'Neill has just four more games to prepare his side for their efforts to make it to the tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico next summer.
Slovakia, Luxembourg and either Italy or Germany will make up their qualifying group but, before those games begin in September, they will play friendlies against Switzerland, Sweden, Iceland and one as yet unconfirmed opponent.
It has been an eventful few months for a number of players included in O'Neill's panel for the first of those games at home to the Swiss on Friday evening and against Sweden in Stockholm on 25 March.
With some new faces in the group and others having made January moves, BBC Sport NI looks at how the squad have fared since topping their Nations League C group last year.
NI's new number one lacking regular football
The omission of Birmingham City's Bailey Peacock-Farrell was among the headlines from O'Neill's squad announcement last week. The 48-times capped goalkeeper lost the number one jersey through injury during the Nations League campaign and has started just one league game for his club since October.
His successor at international level, Pierce Charles, is also struggling for minutes at club level. Stuck behind the on-loan James Beadle at Sheffield Wednesday, he has played just once for the Owls since winning his fourth cap in November.
That came in the FA Cup third-round defeat by Coventry City, the same competition in which Conor Hazard made headlines with clean sheets against Premier League opposition Brentford and Liverpool. The Pilgrims' run would end with a 3-1 defeat by Manchester City but, after missing the Nations League campaign following ankle surgery, the Downpatrick man has now started the past 13 games for the Championship club.
The third goalkeeper in O'Neil's squad, Luke Southwood, had been starting for Bolton Wanderers but found himself on the bench for their defeat by Stockport County last weekend.
Injuries hamper defence but McNair back in the frame
The absence of Liverpool's Conor Bradley and Sunderland's Dan Ballard through injury will be keenly felt, and there have been changes among O'Neill's defensive unit.
Portsmouth's Terry Devlin is the only uncapped defender in the squad. The former Glentoran man has been getting regular minutes in the Championship, mostly at right-back although he can also play midfield.
Three others have changed clubs since last appearing in the green jersey.
With Josh Magennis only on the standby list for these friendlies, Paddy McNair is both the squad's most-capped player and top scorer. The 29-year-old former Middlesbrough player was used only sparingly during his loan spell at West Bromwich Albion but, through four games, has played all but 35 minutes of San Diego FC's Major League Soccer (MLS) campaign so far.
Aaron Donnelly made his international debut against Andorra in June when still a Nottingham Forest player but joined Dundee during the summer window. He spent the first half of the season on loan at Colchester United but was recalled by his parent club in January and has already made 11 starts for the Scottish Premiership side.
Another in the squad after a recent move is Ruairi McConville who earned his first two caps in November and has since left Brighton for Norwich City, making two appearances off the bench for the Canaries.
Trai Hume and Ciaron Brown continue to be relied upon heavily at Championship clubs Sunderland and Oxford United, while Eoin Toal is back in the side at League One Bolton Wanderers.
Also in the third tier, having been used as both a left and right-sided defender by O'Neill for Northern Ireland, Brodie Spencer has recently been turning out as a central defender for Huddersfield Town.
Host of Championship regulars available in midfield
Although Ali McCann misses out through injury, the midfield group has a more settled look about it.
Crystal Palace's Justin Devenny, who made his international debut in November,is the only player in the squad to have appeared in the Premier League this season, doing so 14 times to go along with four outings in domestic cups.
O'Neill can, however, call upon plenty of midfielders seeing regular action in the Championship.
Despite some speculation over his future in January, midfielder Shea Charles remained on loan at Sheffield Wednesday from Southampton and the man who captained Northern Ireland in their two most recent fixtures has been ever present in the Owls midfield in Championship fixtures since he arrived at Hillsborough.
At Queen's Park Rangers, Paul Smyth is another getting regular football in England's second tier, as is Millwall's George Saville, while Jordan Thompson has himself back in the team at Stoke City of late.
Isaac Price, who has the second most international goals among those in the squad for these fixtures, made the switch from Standard Liege to West Bromwich Albion in January and has already impressed for the play-off hopefuls, getting his first goal for the club on Saturday.
Down in League One, Ethan Galbraith's form has been strong for Leyton Orient, winning his side's player of the month award in February after reportedly attracting interest from Championship sides in the January window.
Strikers looking to bring club form to international game
In the absence of Magennis, O'Neill's group of strikers have just four senior international goals between them - and all of those have been provided by Dion Charles - but it is an intriguing collection of players nonetheless.
Former Cliftonville striker Ronan Hale is available for the first time having netted 12 times this season since his summer move to Scottish Premiership side Ross County.
While former Republic of Ireland youth international Hale's switch to Northern Ireland has been on the cards for months, the expected inclusion of Jamie Donely comes as more of a surprise.
The Tottenham Hotspur attacker, 20, was born in Antrim but had previously represented England Under-19s.
While a formal transfer procedure similar to Hale's will need to occur in the future in order for him to play in the World Cup qualifiers, after impressing on loan at Leyton Orient this season, he can feature in this month's friendly fixtures immediately.
With six goals and six assists for Orient this year, he and Hale provide two new options for O'Neill, whose other forwards have also been finding the net regularly.
Former Larne man Lee Bonis who made his international debut in November has 10 for ADO Den Haag, while Callum Marshall (nine) and Dale Taylor (eight) have been among the goals for Huddersfield Town and Wigan Athletic.
With that latter pair on loan deals from West Ham and Nottingham Forest respectively, and Dion Charles having moved to Huddersfield Town, all the strikers in O'Neill's squad have spent the season with new clubs.
-
Mubama named February’s Premier League 2 Player of the Month
Elite Development Squad striker Divin Mubama has been named the Premier League 2 Player of the Month after his fantastic performances in February.The 20-year-old, who joined the Club from West Ham ...Yahoo Sports - 4d -
Thuram withdraws from France Nations League squad with ankle pain
Marcus Thuram is the latest Inter player to pull out of international duty, as he has withdrawn from Didier Deschamps’s France squad for the upcoming Nations League quarter-finals against ...Yahoo Sports - 21h -
Scotland add striker Hirst for Nations League ties
Ipswich Town forward George Hirst is added to Scotland's squad for the Nations League A play-off with Greece.Yahoo Sports - 1d -
Inter Milan Wingback Called Up For Netherlands UEFA Nations League Squad – Defender Not In Squad
Inter Milan wingback Denzel Dumfries has been called up for the Netherlands, while Stefan de Vrij is not in the squad.The entire squad list selected by Oranje coach Ronald Koeman for the Nations ...Yahoo Sports - 4d -
Santi, Jiménez lead Mexico Nations League squad
Mexico national team head coach Javier Aguirre announced the 23-player roster for the upcoming Concacaf Nations League matches during the March international window, with Raul Jimenez and Santiago ...ESPN - 6d -
Which Serie A side has the most players in the latest Italy squad?
Luciano Spalletti’s former side Napoli have five representatives in the latest Italy national team squad for the Nations League quarter-finals against Germany coming up in March, which means that ...Yahoo Sports - 3d -
National analysis finds America's butterflies are disappearing at 'catastrophic' rate
A new study finds the number of butterflies has dropped 22% since 2000, a new study findsABC News - Mar. 6 -
First national analysis finds America's butterflies are disappearing at 'catastrophic' rate
A new study finds the number of butterflies has dropped 22% since 2000, a new study findsABC News - Mar. 7 -
Five NHL Players On Playoff Hopefuls Who Have Slumped Since The 4 Nations Face-Off
Last month, the 4 Nations Face-Off delivered the kind of edge-of-your-seat action that got hearts pounding for both hockey fans and NHL players — whether they were suiting up in the tournament or ...Yahoo Sports - 1d
More from Yahoo Sports
-
Twins’ Royce Lewis will miss start of season after hurting his hamstring
Lewis is coming off a 2024 season that saw him appear in just 82 games due to quadriceps and adductor issues.Yahoo Sports - 17h -
Texans to pick up Derek Stingley's Jr.'s fifth-year option ahead of extension
The Houston Texans will have Derek Stingley Jr. under contract through 2029 after agreeing to pick up one final year on his rookie deal.Yahoo Sports - 20h -
MLB hyped up a video game-like replay view from the Tokyo Dome and fans justifiably hated it
The on-field replay did not go over how MLB expected.Yahoo Sports - 22h -
The Players Championship 2025 prize money: Full payout from the $25 million purse
Here's how the $25 million purse will be paid out this week at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.Yahoo Sports - 1d -
Auburn basketball’s first round opponent revealed ahead of 2025 NCAA Tournament
Auburn basketball will face either Alabama State or St. Francis in March Madness to open its 2025 NCAA Tournament men’s bracket.Yahoo Sports - 1d
More in Sports
-
Ranking MLB's top 100 players in 2025: Shohei Ohtani is No. 1, but how do baseball's other stars stack up?
Who will be the best players in the upcoming season? Let's rank the top 100 before Opening DayCBS Sports - 6m -
Tracy Morgan 'doing OK' after vomiting during Knicks game on MSG court, comedian says he had food poisoning
The incident caused a 10-minute delay on Monday night at Madison Square GardenCBS Sports - 9m -
Heat's longest losing streak under coach Erik Spoelstra has given Miami a difficult draft dilemma
The Heat have lost eight games in a row to fall to 10th in the Eastern ConferenceCBS Sports - 12m -
Deion Sanders pitches Colorado playing another team for spring game, Syracuse's Fran Brown answers the call
NCAA bylaws ban playing other programs in the spring; could that change?CBS Sports - 14m -
Kerr says Curry 'exhausted,' could sit vs. Bucks
After watching Stephen Curry struggle against an undermanned Nuggets team Monday night, coach Steve Kerr said the Warriors superstar is "exhausted" and in need of a rest day.ESPN - 15m