Northern Ireland women manager Tanya Oxtoby has credited her team for their resilience after a tough trip to Iceland.
The national team was forced to spend an extra day abroad after their game was postponed due to snowy weather.
Northern Ireland’s tough time in Iceland
Tanya Oxtoby’s team has endured a difficult week in the Nations League.
Northern Ireland were supposed to play Iceland in a playoff game on Tuesday night but the adverse weather conditions postponed their clash until Wednesday.
After being delayed a day Ireland fell short again to Iceland and failed to earn promotion to League A.
A brave effort from our senior women against a strong Iceland side. #GAWA
Plenty of positives to take but it’s defeat in our UEFA @WEURO2025 play-off 🟢⚪️ #TogetherWeThrive pic.twitter.com/7HohRJkiNH
— Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) October 29, 2025
Speaking after the game, Oxtoby took a sly dig at the Football Association of Iceland (KSI) for the conditions her team were forced to endure.
“I’m super proud of the group – players and staff. What we’ve had to endure over the last three or four days has been really, really difficult,” said Oxtoby.
“I think there’s a long way for the women’s game to come in terms of the professionalism and the way in which things are done.
Despite her complaints, a sheet of snow fell across Reykjavik and KSI had no choice but to postpone the match.
“For the group to perform the way they did – I know at home people might not have that context but the country should be super proud of the players after what they’ve had to deal with over the last couple of days.”
What next for Northern Ireland?
Their 3-0 loss in Reykjavik meant Northern Ireland lost 5-0 on aggregate and remain in League B of the Nations League.
All hope isn’t lost for Oxtoby and company, but they can no longer qualify for the 2027 World Cup through the Nations League this year.
Northern Ireland will now go through the normal qualifiers in their bid to reach back to back World Cup’s for the first time in history.
“The morale of this group is better than it’s ever been. The desire is better than it’s ever been,” Oxtoby said. “I said at the start of the tie we would know where we sit and we do now – and we’ve got work to do.”
🗣️ “The future’s really bright for this group, there’s no doubt about that”.
The boss is proud of the group after our double header against Iceland 🙌 #GAWA #TogetherWeThrive pic.twitter.com/EwGZbj8F8r
— Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) October 29, 2025
Northern Ireland have two international friendlies coming up in the November-December break, but their full focus will now be on preparing for World Cup qualifiers at the start of next year.
