Northern Ireland women: Who could Michael McArdle’s side face in World Cup play-off?

World ranking: 25th World Cup qualifying group: First in Group B4 Last World Cup: 2019

It would be fitting if Northern Ireland were paired with Scotland for their play-off semi-final given boss McArdle’s roots and his previous work in their association.

The 46-year-old Glaswegian, who was appointed as Tanya Oxtoby’s permanent successor in March, is still based in Scotland after taking on his first full-time senior management role with NI.

He served as the head of women’s elite football for the SFA and led the Scotland Under-23s team and the senior side for a four-game interim spell last year before Melissa Andreatta was appointed.

Under the Australian Andreatta, the Scots finished top of Group B4, winning four of their six games and drawing the other two to earn promotion to League A.

Scotland are aiming to reach a second World Cup after featuring at the 2019 tournament and were prolific in the group phase, scoring 24 goals as they thrashed Israel and Luxembourg twice.

Captain Caroline Weir, who has swapped Real Madrid for Lyon, is their obvious threat as she found the net 10 times in six games, but they have plenty of other experienced operators.