Overview
- Northern Ireland beat Luxembourg 1-0 at Windsor Park as Jamie Donley converted a first-half penalty for his maiden international goal after a VAR review penalised Christopher Martins for a foul on Ciaron Brown.
- Michael O'Neill rotated heavily with six changes, starting Conor Hazard for the injured Bailey Peacock-Farrell, handing Jamie McDonnell a first start and giving Patrick Kelly a debut, while Conor Bradley was withdrawn at half-time.
- The game carried no bearing on Group A positions following Friday’s late loss to Slovakia, with Northern Ireland finishing third on nine points from six matches.
- O'Neill confirmed the play-off route comes via their Nations League finish and said opponents are likely to be a top-seeded side such as Italy, Poland, Ukraine or Turkey, noting limited preparation time and the likelihood of playing away.
- The manager praised Donley’s “real quality” and said he wanted to assess him as a number nine, calling centre-forward a problem position but expressing optimism about the team’s progression and youthful options.