Norway 3-0 Northern Ireland: Oxtoby says NI have come on in ‘leaps and bounds’ in 2024

It’s almost a year to the day since Northern Ireland were beaten 6-1 at Windsor Park by the Republic of Ireland to end their inaugural Nations League campaign.

At that stage there were more questions than answers about what direction the team were heading under Tanya Oxtoby, who had taken over in August 2023.

They had shown signs in that Nations League campaign of promise, albeit in fits and starts for the majority rather than stringing together a 90-minute performance.

But now, a year on, there is no doubt NI are a team on the rise, even if they fell at the final hurdle of reaching back-to-back European Championships after a 7-0 aggregate play-off final defeat by Norway.

They end 2024 with a record of played 12, won five, drawn three and lost four, showing they could break down stubborn defences home and away and be clinical with their chances.

There are even caveats for the four defeats; Portugal home and away and Norway home and away, two sides ranked considerably higher than NI in the Fifa rankings.

And boss Oxtoby was happy to reflect on the progress after a full year of fixtures.

“I’ve said 120 times we are on a journey and every time we play and challenge ourselves, our girls get better,” she told BBC Sport NI.

“We are proud of where we started to where we are now, and we want to continue on that journey.”