Northern Ireland forward Lauren Wade said her side is aiming to "stay in the tie" in the first leg of their World Cup play-off semi-final against Portugal.

Michael McArdle's team welcome Portugal, who are ranked 28 places above them, to Inver Park on Friday (19:30 BST) before travelling to Portimao for Tuesday's second leg.

If they overcome the Portuguese, which will be a tall order given their injury list and the youthful make up of the squad, they will face Croatia or Iceland in the play-off final and then an inter-continental play-off to reach next summer's tournament.

Wade, who scored in a 2-1 defeat the last time the two sides met in June 2024, says that the squad have the belief that they can cause an upset and progress.

"They're the type of team you want to test yourselves against to see how far we've come. It's difficult over two legs, you want to stay in the tie and that's what we've spoken about," she told BBC Sport NI.

"It's about staying in the tie and going out there (to Portimao) with that extra confidence and belief and hopefully we can get something from the games."

At 32, the Hearts winger is one of the older players in the squad and is keen to use her experience to help the young players and the five new call-ups settle in.

"The manager talks about being one big family and that's what we say to the girls coming in. It's about them getting used to what Northern Irish football is like," she added.

"It's great to be one of the senior players and to just be myself. The new players come in with a little bit of freshness, with no fear and bravery."

Wade is one of nine in the current crop who featured last time out against Portugal in Euro 2025 qualifying.

As well as that 2-1 defeat at Mourneview Park, NI also suffered a 4-0 loss in Portugal and Wade is wary of their quality as Francisco Neto's side aim to reach back-to-back World Cups.

"It's going to be a tough game, but it's a challenge we're ready for. We know they're going to be front foot and we have a lot of strengths but so do we, we've been working hard on the training pitch. It's a massive challenge but something we're looking forward to.

"They like to move the ball fast and they're technical, but we have a gameplan in place and we need to make the environment uncomfortable for them."