International Friendly
Northern Ireland v Scotland
Thursday 10 June 2021, kick-off 7pm
Seaview Stadium, Belfast

The Scotland Women’s National Team kick-off a double-header of international friendlies on Thursday evening, as they take on Northern Ireland as a warm-up for their 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification campaign.

Scotland will be led by Stuart McLaren who continues in his role as interim head coach for the team’s first match since facing Portugal in February.

The Northern Irish side will be full of confidence having recently qualified for a major tournament for the first time. Their qualification for the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 was secured after defeating Ukraine in a play-off in April.

Team news

The match presents the potential for four players to earn their debut cap after Eartha Cummings, Brianna Westrup, Leah Eddie and Christy Grimshaw were all called into the squad for the first time. The fixture also allows a return for Lana Clelland who is back in the camp for the first time since the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Previous meetings

The last time the two sides met was in March 2020 as part of the Pinatar Cup. The match finished 2-1 to Scotland with goals coming from Erin Cuthbert and Abbi Grant.

Since 2005, Scotland’s Women have played Northern Ireland on nine occasions and have left each match victorious. Kenny Shiels’ current side are on great form and will be a tough challenge.

Pre-match thoughts

Lana Clelland has expressed her joy about being back with the international team for the first time since the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and is looking forward to the game on Thursday evening. These games come at a crucial time as Stuart McLaren is looking to prepare the squad ahead of their next competitive games in September – the World Cup qualifiers.

Lana said: “It’s amazing to be back with the girls. I just can’t wait to get out on the pitch with them again as these friendlies are massive games for us. It’s about looking forward to the beginning of our World Cup qualifying campaign, and these are the final preparations for us to prove ourselves. We’ve had so much positivity over the last few years qualifying for our first World Cup and first UEFA Women’s EURO, so we want to do everything we can to be back where we belong – competing in major tournaments.”

Having stayed in Italy for nearly seven years and then unable to come home for a while due to COVID, this has made her even more excited to be back with the squad.

“It’s been a difficult year. Italy is home to me now, but it was hard not being able to come back to Scotland and see family and friends. It was also hard to watch the last EURO qualifying games and not being able to help out, but I’m more determined now more than ever to help the team get that all important qualification. I can’t wait to put that blue shirt back on and get out there with this incredible team.”

As one of our experienced players, Lana also looks forward to working closely with her younger teammates and sharing her knowledge of competing in big tournaments.

“We’re seeing some really young talent come into the team along with more experienced players, which I think is a brilliant blend. The new faces certainly deserve their place. They have shown what they can do at club level, so I look forward to working with them during the camp. I think the younger generation are getting such quality technical training from a young age, so this certainly works at our advantage.

“Our squad play with clubs in so many different countries across the world now, so it’s a really exciting time to bring all our experience and knowledge together as a team.”

Watch The Match

The match will be streamed live on BBC iPlayer as well as the BBC Northern Ireland website.