Slovakia host Northern Ireland in their must-win 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Group A showdown.
Victory could see Slovakia climb to the top spot in the group if Germany fail to beat Luxembourg, whilst Northern Ireland must win to go second and have at least a play-off spot in their own hands going into their final group match.
Team News
Slovakia have a full squad available for selection.
Northern Ireland too have no fresh injury concerns to report as Shea Charles, Brodie Spencer (both hamstring) and Ali McCann (arm) weren’t called up for the squad.
Jamal Lewis consequently was handed a late recall to bolster the defensive options after 13 months out of the international team.
When is Kick-Off?
Slovakia host Northern Ireland at Kosicka Futbalova Arena, Kosice, on Friday 14 November at 8:45pm CET (7:45pm GMT), live on BBC Two Northern Ireland plus BBC3 across rest of UK.
Stat Attack
- Slovakia have won two of three previous FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Northern Ireland (W2, L1).
- Northern Ireland lost 2-1 in their only previous away FIFA World Cup Qualifier to Slovakia in September 2008.
- Both teams have taken a 2-0 victory apiece in their last two FIFA World Cup Qualifying meetings.
- Slovakia have won their two home qualifiers in this group by 2-0 results against Germany and Luxembourg respectively.
- All six of Northern Ireland’s goals in this qualifying group so far came from six different goalscorers.
Prediction
Guaranteed a shot at automatic qualification going into their final group match, Slovakia can simply make it a straight winners-take-all showdown away to Germany by producing another clinical display which dispatched Luxembourg at home last month.
Northern Ireland meanwhile know that only victory would keep their automatic qualification dreams alive and can take confidence from a clinical home win in this fixture last month, whilst they were unlucky to not get a draw against Germany so I expect a serious reaction despite some key absentees.
Both teams though know that defeat would be damaging for their hopes of surprise automatic qualification but if Northern Ireland can again defend resiliently, I can see them nicking this but beating Slovakia at home is a tough ask and they do have the fallback of their Nations League ranking to get into the play-offs.
Prediction: Slovakia 1-1 Northern Ireland
Result: Slovakia 1-0 Northern Ireland
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