"Northern Ireland will hope to do the double over Slovakia in World Cup qualifying to put themselves in pole position to at least secure a play-off spot in their penultimate Group A clash. Michael O'Neill's men beat Slovakia 2-0 in Belfast in the last round of fixtures before losing 1-0 to Germany, leaving them in third place, three points behind both leaders Germany and Slovakia."
"With Germany visiting Luxembourg on Friday, winning the group is likely to be beyond Northern Ireland, who will be consigned to third place if they lose and the four-time world champions avoid what would be a seismic defeat. The prospect of winning the group is the motivation for Slovakia as they aim to reach the finals for only the second time as an independent country, having last qualified in 2010."
"Slovakia stunned Germany to begin the qualifying campaign, handing Die Mannschaft their first ever away defeat in a World Cup qualifier. The previous defeat to Northern Ireland saw Slovakia surrender their advantage over Germany in the table, but revenge over O'Neill's side followed by an unlikely away win in Leipzig would see Francesco Calzona's side win the group and seal qualification."
Northern Ireland travel to Kosice needing a win to secure at least a play-off place, with the final group game at home to Luxembourg remaining. They beat Slovakia 2-0 in Belfast but lost 1-0 to Germany, leaving them third, three points behind Germany and Slovakia. Germany's visit to Luxembourg makes winning the group unlikely for Northern Ireland unless results change dramatically. Slovakia aim to reach only their second World Cup finals since 2010, having stunned Germany earlier, and must finish in the top two; they have not lost a competitive home match since September 2023.
Read at 101GREATGOALS.COM
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]