Northern Ireland have been put in Group A of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers along with Luxembourg and Slovakia, and many people believe that it’s a group they can easily win.
One of their most promising stars is 21-year-old right-back/defender Conor Bradley, who currently plays in the English Premier League for table-toppers Liverpool FC.
The question being asked here is, will Conor Bradley’s emergence as a top star help Northern Ireland’s World Cup hopes? Let’s dive straight in to find out.
Is Conor Bradley the key player for Northern Ireland’s 2026 FIFA World Cup hopes?
In short, yes. Conor Bradley is Northern Ireland’s best star, but whether he alone can be the key difference that will help them progress past the group-stage qualifiers remains to be seen.
However, there are many other talented players in the squad who can also help Northern Ireland top their group and make it to the next phase of the competition.
Unfortunately, the start defender is currently injured, which will be a major blow for Northern Ireland. They must ensure he recovers from his hamstring injury, which has already seen him miss several domestic matches.
He has also been left out of his nation’s squad for friendlies against Sweden and Switzerland due to his ongoing injury. The latest reports say that he should be fit and return to both squads by the end of March 2025.
Some of Northern Ireland’s other top players are Jonny Evans, Daniel Ballard, Trai Hume, Jamie Reid, Isaac Price, and Shea Charles, to name a few. That’s not forgetting Pierce Charles and Luke Southwood.
What are Northern Ireland’s chances of winning the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
Northern Ireland are currently one of the lowest-ranked international football teams in the world and one of the least-favourites to win on today’s most trusted online sports betting sites that are well-known for having some of the industry’s most highly competitive World Cup and EPL odds.
For example, as it stands, Northern Ireland, along with DR Congo, Finland, Georgia, Israel, Jamaica, North Macedonia, Slovakia, and the United Arab Emirates, are all jointly priced at 1000/1 in the fractional odds format, meaning these teams only have a 0.10% chance of winning the next FIFA World Cup in 2026.
Which country will win the next FIFA World Cup?
Again, the best thing to do is to look at the latest odds for the 2026 FIFA World Cup outright winner market. Here are the latest odds for the top three odds-on favourite teams:
- Odds-on favourites to win the competition outright: Spain. Fractional odds: 11/2. Implied probability rate: 15.40%
- Joint-second odds-on favourites to win the competition outright: Brazil and France. Fractional odds: (both priced at 6/1). Implied probability rate: 14.30%
You then have England at around 7/1, Argentina and Germany at around 10/1, and Portugal at around 16/1, followed by Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Don’t forget that although these odds are accurate at the time of writing, they are subject to change, and there is still a long way to go before the World Cup finals next year.
Final thoughts
If Conor Bardley can fully recover from his injury and get back to playing at 100% for his country, it will be interesting to see how far Northern Ireland can go in the World Cup with him in the starting 11.
Their next World Cup qualifier group stage match is against Luxembourg on September 4, and then on October 10, they face Slovakia. There should also be a match on September 7, but details have yet to be released for this fixture.
They also play Iceland in a friendly on June 10 and Sweden in a friendly on March 25.
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