Northern Ireland netball vice-captain Caroline O’Hanlon said “not many outside of our camp expected us to qualify” after the side booked their spot for the 2027 World Cup in Australia.

Sheonah Forbes’ side secured their place in Sydney after beating Wales and the Republic of Ireland during their impressive qualifying campaign in East Kilbride.

It will be the first World Cup for Northern Ireland since 2019, after they missed out on the 2023 edition in Cape Town.

“There wouldn’t have been many outside of our camp who expected us to qualify,” O’Hanlon told BBC Sport NI.

“It’s so exciting, even since Friday, we’ve been inundated with well wishes and messages from home and people watching the games on BBC. It’s been brilliant to have that exposure.

“It just seems surreal. We’ve been training away and we knew we had that potential, but obviously potential is one thing, getting it over the lines is a different thing and I am so proud of the group that we were able to get it over the line.”

World-ranked number 15 Northern Ireland’s emphatic 73-50 victory over Republic of Ireland in their final qualifier was not enough to secure one of the two qualification spots automatically.

However, Scotland’s narrow win over Wales in Sunday’s later game booked both teams spots with Wales, who are ranked ninth in the world, missing out.

“It was a real rollercoaster of a day,” O’Hanlon continued.

“Obviously we started out with a hard-fought win against the Republic of Ireland, but we knew that we were still relying on Scotland.

“That match was just up and down the whole way through, so we were nerve-wrecked watching that. Just sitting in the stands, not being able to control anything, was nerve-wracking.”

O’Hanlon was captain of the side when they finished 10th in the World Cup seven years ago.

But, now, the 42-year-old said the squad will head to Sydney with ambitions of competing for results rather than simply gaining experience.

“The last one we were at was in Liverpool and there was a lot of home support, but Sydney is the home of netball at the minute,” O’Hanlon added.

“Sydney is the centre of the best league in the world. It’ll be a brilliant spectacle and it’s just class to be a part of it.

“The group will be going into the games not just to experience, not just to learn, but to actually go on and compete and try to win games and get results. That’s the next step for us really.”