McConville, included in Michael O’Neill’s Northern Ireland squad, will face Italy in a crucial World Cup play-off semi-final in Bergamo. Should they defeat the Italians, they will play the winners of the semi-final between Wales and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will also be away from home.
It was touch and go whether the defender would be fit after picking up a knee injury in the Canaries’ 3-0 FA Cup defeat to Leeds at Elland Road. Having missed the home wins over Sheffield United and Preston, he returned to play in Norwich’s last two Championship games before the break, away at Southampton and Charlton.
Anis Ben Slimane and Ali Ahmed will be on opposite sides when Tunisia face Canada in a friendly in Toronto in the early hours of Wednesday morning UK time, just two days before Norwich take on Portsmouth on Good Friday. Philippe Clement has been vocal about his concerns over the scheduling in a recent press conference, with the pair only due back in the Colney building for one training session.
Before then, Canada meet Iceland in Toronto, while Tunisia take on Haiti in the same city.
Jose Cordoba has two World Cup warm-up games, with Panama taking on South Africa twice in the same international window, one in Durban and one in Cape Town.
After scoring from the halfway line in Scotland’s last game in November to seal qualification for this summer’s finals, Kenny McLean is named in Steve Clarke’s squad for friendlies against Japan and the Ivory Coast.
Kellen Fisher has a trip to Andorra before enjoying the home comforts of Carrow Road when the England under-21s face Moldova. Eroll Munde-Smith’s recent cameos have earned him his first call-up to the Young Lions under-20 squad, and he is set to travel to Rome to face Italy.
Young winger Elliot Myles has been selected in the Wales under-21 squad for the first time. He will take on Belarus at Newport’s Rodney Parade before travelling to face Denmark.
Academy duo, Zach Baumann (Ukraine Under-19s) and Vatan Ozcan (Türkiye Under-19s) are both in UEFA Under-19 EURO elite round action, aiming to secure a spot in this summer’s final tournament in Wales.
Away from the current crop, former fan favourite Gabriel Sara has been called up to Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil squad for the first time and could make his debut in friendlies against France and Croatia.
FULL INTERNATIONAL SCHEDULE INVOLVING NORWICH CITY PLAYERS
Wednesday 25
Ukraine U19 v Northern Ireland U19 (9am) – Zach Baumann
Slovakia U19 v Türkiye U19 (11am) – Vatan Ozcan
Thursday 26
Italy v Northern Ireland (7:45pm) – Ruairi McConville
Friday 27
Italy U20 v England U20 (3pm) – Errol Mundle-Smith
South Africa v Panama (5pm) – Jose Cordoba
Wales U21 v Belarus U21 (5:30pm) – Elliot Myles
Andorra U21 v England U21 (6:30pm) – Kellen Fisher
Saturday 28
Ukraine U19 v Kazakhstan U19 (9am) – Zach Baumann
Türkiye U19 v Hungary U19 (11am) – Vatan Ozcan
Canada v Iceland (5pm) – Ali Ahmed
Scotland v Japan (5pm) – Kenny McLean
Sunday 29
Tunisia v Haiti (12am) – Anis Ben Slimane
Tuesday 31
Türkiye U19 v Italy U19 (2pm) – Vatan Ozcan
Romania U19 v Ukraine U19 (3pm) – Zach Baumann
Denmark U21 v Wales U21 (5pm) – Elliot Myles
South Africa v Panama (6:30pm) – Jose Cordoba
England U21 v Moldova U21 (7pm) – Kellen Fisher
Scotland v Ivory Coast (7:30pm) – Kenny McLean
Wednesday 1
Canada v Tunisia (12:30am) – Ali Ahmed, Anis Ben Slimane