Callaghan retires from Northern Ireland duty

Former Northern Ireland captain Marissa Callaghan has announced her retirement from international football.

Callaghan, 39, won 91 caps and led Northern Ireland to the Euro 2022 finals - the country's first women's major tournament.

The Cliftonville midfielder has not featured for Northern Ireland after being left out of Tanya Oxtoby's squad for October's Euro 2025 play-off with Croatia.

Callaghan's final cap came against Malta in April, a month before she relinquished the Northern Ireland captaincy.

She made her debut in 2010 against Scotland and wore the armband for the first of 52 occasions against Georgia in 2016 - a game in which she scored two of her eight international goals.

"Putting on the green jersey is a feeling that you cannot explain, and it doesn't matter whether it's a friendly game, a game at the Euros or a competitive game," Callaghan told the Irish FA.

"When you walk out onto that pitch and cross that white line, it's just the feeling of immense pride. It's an incredible feeling and I'm so thankful that I got to do that 91 times."

Callaghan works as a women's and girls' football administrator with the Irish FA Foundation and helped Cliftonville to an unbeaten league campaign in 2024 as the Reds won the treble.

She is set to continue playing for Cliftonville as they compete in the Champions League.

Callaghan will also be a pundit for BBC Sport NI's coverage of the upcoming men's fixtures with Switzerland and Sweden.

Marissa Callaghan will go down as one of Northern Ireland's greatest captains and players.

Her announcement comes as little surprise given she had fallen out of favour under current manager Oxtoby in the autumn and her last cap came almost a year ago.

But it is only right that Callaghan should have the say on closing this chapter of her career.

Qualifying for Euro 2022 was the undoubted highlight as Callaghan and Northern Ireland made history - and the midfielder even had to overcome an injury scare to feature in Southampton.

Fittingly, it was Callaghan who netted the crucial goal in Belfast in the play-off against Ukraine that set Northern Ireland on their way to the finals and her influence was integral as a young squad defied the odds.

She also led Northern Ireland out at Wembley to face England, which was another symbolic moment to show the progress that had been made in women's football in the country.

Callaghan has been the face of women's football in Northern Ireland, and importantly, her contribution to football in Northern Ireland is not over yet and her impact in the sport will continue through her roles at the Irish FA and Cliftonville.