Northern Ireland defeated Luxembourg by a goal to nil in their final game in the European group stages of FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers tonight.
A first half penalty slotted home by Jamie Donley was enough to secure the victory in front of 18,037 fans at the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park.
Luxembourg were looking to put points on the board for the first time in Group A, while Northern Ireland were keen to add to the six points they had amassed from five games and end their qualifying campaign on a high.
With a World Cup play-off place already secured, O’Neill said he would freshen the team up following the 1-0 defeat to Slovakia on Friday night and he was true to his word as he made six changes to the eleven that started against the Slovakians.
In came goalkeeper Conor Hazard, defenders Jamal Lewis and Ciaron Brown plus midfielders Jamie McDonnell, Donley and Ethan Galbraith, who was back from suspension.
Dropping out were the suspended defender Daniel Ballard and midfielder George Saville as well as defenders Trai Humeand Justin Devenny, who were both not risked as they were each on a yellow card, and a second would have apparently meant a suspension for the World Cup play-offs in March.
Also rested were goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell and striker Dion Charles.
In the opening exchanges a Paddy McNair header was cleared before captain Conor Bradley scooped a shot wide. Then Isaac Price forced a save out of Luxembourg keeper Anthony Moris with a crisp strike.
A sweeping move eventually saw Price back-heel the ball to the onrushing Jamal Lewis, who fired his shot over the top.
Jamie Donley had the ball in the net on 18 minutes, however the ‘goal’ was ruled out as Ethan Galbraith was in an offside position as he supplied the cross which Donley tucked home.
Hazard comfortably gathered in the ball as Luxembourg’s Aiman Dardari produced a low drive from distance. And then the Northern Ireland keeper raced off his line to superbly thwart an effort from Christopher Martins.
Luxembourg midfielder Mathias Olesen went close with a fierce shot from outside the area before Olivier Thill’s effort was off target.
Northern Ireland took the lead on 44 minutes from the penalty spot.
Brad Lyons fired in a dangerous cross which was cleared by the Luxembourg defence. The resulting corner was delivered by Donley into the area where Ciaran Brown was pulled down by Christopher Martins. And, following a VAR review, the referee awarded the penalty. Donley coolly stroked home the spot kick for his first senior international goal.
After the break Olivier Thill blasted a shot over the bar, while Ruairi McConville got on the end of a Donley free-kick but his header also went over the top.
The game became a bit scrappy. Brown produced a great tackle to stop Marvin Martins in his tracks and Northern Ireland substitute Terry Devlin covered plenty of ground to block an effort from Luxembourg substitute Kenan Avdusinovic.
On 82 minutes Danel Sinani fired a free-kick off target, and 30 seconds later midfielder Patrick Kelly made his senior debut for Northern Ireland.
A long throw into the box from Brown caused panic in the Luxembourg defence, however no-one in a green shirt was able to get a connection on the ball as it bobbled around.
Substitute Josh Magennis had a couple of half-chances before Isaac Price, after being teed up by Kelly, swept a shot over the bar in added time, while Galbraith produced a couple of blocks to ensure Northern Ireland kept a clean sheet and secured the win that took them on to nine points.
In the other Group A game tonight Germany hammered Slovakia 6-0 in Leipzig to secure automatic promotion to the World Cup finals in North America next summer. Slovakia will now join Northern Ireland in the World Cup play-offs in March.
Northern Ireland: Conor Hazard, Conor Bradley (captain), Jamal Lewis, Ruairi McConville, Paddy McNair, Ciaron Brown, Ethan Galbraith, Jamie McDonnell, Jamie Donley, Isaac Price, Brad Lyons.
Substitutes: (used) Terry Devlin, Paul Smyth, Callum Marshall, Josh Magennis, Patrick Kelly; (unused) Josh Clarke, Luke Southwood, Eoin Toal, Ryan Johnson, Dion Charles, Justin Devenny, Ross McCausland.
Luxembourg: Anthony Moris, Marvin Martins, Laurent Jans (captain), Dirk Carlson, Seid Korac, Leandro Barreiro, Aiman Dardari, Mathias Olesen, Christopher Martins, Danel Sinani, Olivier Thill.
Substitutes: (used) Tomas Moreira, Kenan Avdusinovic, Edvin Muratovic,Eldin Dzogovic; (unused) Tiago Pereira (GK), Lucas Fox (GK), Adulai Djabi Embalo, Mirza Mustafic, Alessio Curci, Eric Veiga, Vahid Selimovic, Sebastien Thill.
Action from the National Stadium
