Northern Ireland stun Slovakia to boost World Cup qualifying hopes

TRAI HUME’S FIRST Northern Ireland goal helped them to a 2-0 win over Slovakia, which keeps their World Cup qualifying campaign on track.

Patrik Hrosovsky’s 18th-minute own goal rewarded Northern Ireland for a strong start, but after wasting two outstanding chances to double their lead either side of the break, they endured some nervy moments before Hume lifted the ball over the stranded Martin Dubravka with 10 minutes to go.

Michael O’Neill had refused to call this a must-win, but the reality was they needed all three points to keep pace in a tight group in which Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Germany all have six points from three games.

It was a reward for a strong performance, particularly in the first half, but the man at the heart of it, captain Conor Bradley, picked up a cheap late yellow card which will rule him out of Monday’s visit to Germany.

Bradley had looked like a man on a mission from the start as Northern Ireland played with energy and desire, and it was the Liverpool player who sparked the move for the opening goal.

He picked out Ethan Galbraith in space inside the box, and the Swansea midfielder pulled back a low cross which the hapless Hrosovsky turned into his own net.

Three of Northern Ireland’s five goals against Slovakia in their six meetings to date have been own goals.

With half an hour gone, Galbraith picked Ondrej Duda’s pocket, and though he could not find the run of Jamie Reid, the ball broke to Justin Devenny, whose strike was pushed around the post by Burnley’s Dubravka.

Bradley surged forward again in the 35th minute and cut the ball inside to Shea Charles. His route to the goal was blocked, but it deflected to Reid in front of the goal. Stretching, the Stevenage man could only put a glorious chance over.

Bradley looked just as keen at the start of the second half, twisting and turning on the edge of the box before sending a shot over within seconds of the restart, then slicing a shot wide from the edge of the box.

Northern Ireland wanted a 57th-minute penalty when Shea Charles ran into a Slovakia sandwich, but the appeals were rightly waved away.

Seconds later, the ball was in the Slovakian net, but Reid was offside as he got a toe on a Charles shot, which looked to have been goal-bound regardless.

It was a second clear chance for Northern Ireland to gain some breathing space in an increasingly frantic game, with a yellow card for Daniel Ballard a result of rising temperatures.

The hosts had lost their control and should have lost the lead in the 65th minute as Middlesbrough forward David Strelec got clear of Paddy McNair, only to poke the ball wide.

There was then another hugely frustrating moment for Northern Ireland in the 76th minute when Bradley tussled with Lukas Haraslin on the wing to bring a booking, which rules him out of Monday’s showdown with Germany.

But few were worrying about that four minutes later when Dubravka, unconvincing in commanding his area for much of the night, punched the ball weakly, and it landed for Hume to lift it back over him and into an unguarded net.

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Four-time winners Germany cruised past 10-man Luxembourg, and Kylian Mbappe helped France see off Azerbaijan in other World Cup qualifiers on Friday.

Captain Joshua Kimmich’s double inspired Germany to a 4-0 win over Luxembourg and to the top of Group A on goal difference with Slovakia and Northern Ireland.

Germany showed the poise and swagger that had  abandoned them so far in their World Cup qualifying campaign, losing away in Slovakia for the first time and edging past Northern Ireland at home.

Germany captain Kimmich converted a first-half penalty and tapped in from close range just after the break.

David Raum’s first-half free kick and a Serge Gnabry goal early in the second half secured the Germans an important victory.

Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann praised his team’s “aggression and greed”.

“We could have scored one or two more, but it was a deserved win, one we absolutely wanted and needed,” he added.

Germany were eliminated at the group stage of the World Cup in 2018 and 2022.

Lowly Luxembourg’s task was made even harder when, after only 20 minutes, Dirk Carlson saw red and gave away a penalty for handball in the box.

Over in Paris, Mbappe’s fine form continued at the Parc des Princes when the France captain struck on the stroke of half-time for his 10th goal in successive games for Real Madrid and his country.

Adrien Rabiot and the returning Florian Thauvin were also on the scoresheet as Didier Deschamps’s men eased past Azerbaijan 3-0 to remain unbeaten after three games and top of Group D.

Les Bleus will book their passage to the United States, Canada and Mexico next year if they win in Iceland on Monday and Ukraine fail to beat Azerbaijan.

Despite making it three from three, Deschamps was keeping his feet firmly on terra firma.

- ‘Another context’ -

“I’m not going to jump for joy, we won, we scored three, but we could have got more,” said Deschamps, who was part of the side that put 10 past Azerbaijan the last time the teams met in 1995.

“It’s three points more, but perhaps not in the way we wanted to. We got the job done. Monday will be another game, another context.”

Ukraine sit second in the group, five points adrift, after a captivating 5-3 win in Iceland.

Switzerland maintained their perfect record to keep control of Group B with a 2-0 defeat of a Sweden side featuring Liverpool’s new British transfer record signing Alexander Isak.

Kosovo and Slovenia slogged it out for a goalless draw in the group’s other game.

Belgium, seeking a 13th appearance at the World Cup, were held to a goalless draw at home to North Macedonia, who famously downed Germany in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup and now sit top of Group J, tantalisingly close to a first-ever seat at football’s high table next year.

European 2026 World Cup qualifying results on Friday:

Group A

Germany 4 (Raum 12, Kimmich 21-pen, 50, Gnabry 48) Luxembourg 0

Northern Ireland 2 (Hrosovsky 18-og, Hume 81) Slovakia 0

Group B

Kosovo 0 Slovenia 0

Sweden 0 Switzerland 2 (Xhaka 65-pen, Manzambi 90+4)

Group D

France 3 (Mbappe 45+2, Rabiot 69, Thauvin 84) Azerbaijan 0

Iceland 3 (Ellertsson 35, Gudmundsson 59, 75) Ukraine 5 (Malinovskyi 14, 45+5 Hutsuliak 45, Kaliuzhnyi 85, Ocheretko 88)

Group J

Belgium 0 North Macedonia 0

Kazakhstan 4 (Kenzhebek 26, 59, Zainutdinov 28, Kasym 81) Liechtenstein 0

Additional reporting by AFP