NI Women’s President Kenny Shells prepares for a “pivotal” encounter in the World Cup mission

Kenny Shils expects Northern Ireland’s fate to be decided in the Women’s World Cup qualifiers in a “clinched” match against Austria on Friday.

The two teams are 13 points off the table, three points behind the undefeated Group D leader, with only one goal difference.

While each team will have three more matches to play – both of which will meet England again – Shiels said Friday’s match looks like a qualifying final because it is likely to determine which team will qualify for the qualifiers. .

“This match is a turning point for us and for Austria,” he said.

Both countries know that defeat will lose them more or less out of the race for second place, and victory will put them on the brink of qualifying. This is how important it is.

“We’re at a dead level, there’s a target between us and he’ll tell you the group is very, very tense.”

After Friday’s game in Wiener Neustadt, Northern Ireland will return to Belfast to face England at Windsor Park on Tuesday, with the final against Luxembourg and Latvia scheduled for September after the 2022 European Championship.

“I don’t want to offend the countries that are at the bottom of the rankings, but Latvia and Luxembourg, in fact, without moving forward, we have a great opportunity to beat them,” Schels said.

“If we can beat Austria, it gives us the impetus to qualify for the final and get a great prize.”

Goals from Demi Vance and Lauren Wade led Northern Ireland to defeat Austria in seconds when they met at Seaview in October.

But Stephanie Enzinger’s break goal kept the visitors away with a decisive point in a 2-2 draw.

Whatever the disappointing result, Shiels said it gave his team confidence in their ability to defeat the Austrian, who still had to watch in action at Northern Ireland’s latest multinational retreat in Marbella in February.

“When we were in Spain, they were incredibly good and that allows us to see how well we played at Seaview,” he said. “It really gives us some realism that we can shock.”

With a full squad of Bundesliga players, Austria remains the favorite on paper. That sentiment was picked up by their coach Erin Foreman in the past few days, although Shiels said she was pleased to hear them talk about their prospects.

“Austria showed some disrespect for us,” he said. They underestimated some of what they said in the media, and it’s music to our ears.

“If they feel they can go out and get results, we can do our best and prove them wrong.”

• Tonight the qualifier match will start at 7.30pm and will be broadcast on BBC Sport and BBC iPlayer.

Subscribe to our free sports newsletter To get the latest headlines in your inbox.