Northern Ireland host Luxembourg in their final 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifier in a Qualifying Group A dead rubber.
Victory or a draw would see bottom-placed Luxembourg finish their qualifying campaign with points on the board in Group A, whilst Northern Ireland will finish third regardless of the result.
Team News
Northern Ireland will be without Dan Ballard after he was red carded in their 1-0 away defeat to Slovakia.
George Saville is too suspended after he received his second booking of the campaign in that game, but Ethan Galbraith is back from suspension.
Luxembourg will be without Florian Bohnert after he received his second booking of the campaign in their 2-0 loss at home to Germany.
When is Kick-Off?
Northern Ireland host Luxembourg at Windsor Park, Belfast, on Monday 17 November at 7;45pm GMT, live on BBC Two Northern Ireland and BBC Three in rest of UK.
Stat Attack
- Northern Ireland have avoided defeat in two of their three previous FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Luxembourg (W1, D1, L1).
- Luxembourg drew 1-1 in their only previous away FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Northern Ireland in September 2012.
- Northern Ireland and Luxembourg are yet to keep a clean sheet in FIFA World Cup Qualifying fixtures between both teams.
- Northern Ireland’s last two matches have ended in 1-0 defeats (L2).
- Luxembourg had the fourth-worst defensive record amongst four-team qualifying groups coming into this final round of fixtures, having conceded 12 goals in five matches – with Bulgaria, Belarus and Azerbaijan having conceded more goals.
Prediction
Despite their guaranteed bottom of Group A finish, Luxembourg were simply outplayed by Germany despite a resilient defensive effort but this is a game where they will get more attacking chances which they must convert if want at least one win to finish this group positively.
Northern Ireland meanwhile produced a valiant display in a see-saw battle away to Slovakia but I thought that they deserved at least a draw, as it felt like Slovakia’s winner was only given after two previous goals were chalked off for offside but alas they now need to focus on preparing for the play-offs.
Although this game is a dead rubber, I do expect Northern Ireland manager, Michael O’Neil to go for a strong team because this is a chance to bounce back and take some confidence into March’s play-offs, although Luxembourg probably will view this as winnable themselves with no pressure.
Prediction: Northern Ireland 2-1 Luxembourg
Result: Northern Ireland 1-0 Luxembourg
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