Northern Ireland to host South Korea in March

Northern Ireland will face South Korea at Windsor Park in a friendly in March.

The South Koreans, who will be at next summer’s World Cup, are in Belfast for the game on Saturday, March 24.

Northern Ireland missed out on the chance to join South Korea in Russia having lost a November play-off to Switzerland and this will be their first fixture since.

“The South Koreans have a large squad so I have no doubt their players will be out to impress their manager with the World Cup looming,” Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill said.

“The game will also provide our players with an opportunity to play against a country we have not faced before and to see how they handle opposition from outside Europe.”

The Irish Football Association (IFA) will be hoping O’Neill is still in charge by then.

He is expected to resolve his future before next week’s Nations League draw having been granted permission to talk about the Scotland role after the Scottish Football Association agreed to pay the IFA the £500,000 compensation figure.

However, the IFA has already been in discussions with O’Neill about a new and improved four-year contract extension.