Michael McArdle is getting ready to take charge of his first full campaign as Northern Ireland boss in the third edition of the Nations League.

His side have been handed a difficult draw and are the lowest-ranked team in the group after they were paired with familiar foes Poland, Finland and Belarus in League B.

NI have never been promoted or relegated from the second tier since the competition was launched in 2023, the latter of which they will want to keep intact.

Winning their League B group would guarantee promotion to League A, while second place would secure a promotion play-off.

The bottom team in each League B group will be automatically relegated, as will the two lowest-ranked third-place teams across the four groups.

As NI take their first step in building towards Euro 2029 qualifying, BBC Sport NI takes a closer look at their three Nations League opponents.

Poland

Northern Ireland will know all about Poland after the two teams met in Euro 2025 qualifying.

The Poles won 2-0 at home and then clinically dispatched NI 4-0 at Seaview, with the prolific Ewa Pajor scoring twice inside the opening nine minutes in north Belfast.

Poland will be favourites to win the group after they dropped back into League B after finishing bottom of their League A group that contained France, Netherlands and Republic of Ireland.

They picked up just one point in World Cup qualifying, but, by virtue of being in League A, they still secured a play-off place.

They edged past Belgium on penalties in the first round and will now face Republic of Ireland over two legs for the chance to reach a first World Cup.

As mentioned, they are led by Barcelona striker and captain Pajor, who has scored 74 goals in 112 caps and is one of the most clinical strikers in the world.

The two games against the Poles will be the toughest assignments for McArdle's young squad.

Finland

Finland are ranked seven places higher than Poland at 22nd in the Fifa rankings and regularly qualify for the Euros, so will therefore represent tricky opponents too.

They are on a seven-game winning run since they lost to Portugal at the start of March, including a 3-1 win over the Portuguese, who easily saw off NI in the first round of the World Cup play-offs.

They won five of their six World Cup qualifiers to finish second in their League B group behind Portugal, which was enough to secure a play-off place.

Marko Saloranta's side then beat Serbia 6-2 over two legs to set up a second-round play-off against Italy as they aim to secure World Cup qualification for the first time.

Most of their team play in top leagues across Europe, with the experienced Eveliina Summanen at Tottenham and defender Emma Koivisto at AC Milan.

The two games will represent the first meetings between the sides at senior level, but NI will have to be at their very best to try and get a result in either game.

Belarus

Northern Ireland will be targeting taking maximum points from their two games against Belarus to aid their cause of staying in League B, but they too could prove to be awkward opposition.

Belarus are, at 46th, six places ahead of NI in the Fifa rankings after winning promotion back to League B.

They won three of their four games to top their three-team group and earn a World Cup play-off.

Like NI, they exited at the first-round stage, suffering a 3-1 aggregate defeat against Italy after two legs.

The teams last met in Euro 2022 qualifying, with Northern Ireland picking up two crucial wins - 1-0 away after being reduced to 10 players and a 3-2 victory at home at Seaview on their way to qualifying for their first ever major tournament.