NI will not be 'starstruck' versus reeling Germany

Northern Ireland beat Luxembourg 3-1 to start their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign

Fifa World Cup qualifier: Germany v Northern Ireland

Venue: RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne Date: Sunday, 7 September Kick-off: 19:45 BST

Coverage: Watch live on BBC One NI, BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

In recent times, Northern Ireland have faced no footballing superpower more frequently than Germany.

Nine times they have played the four-time World Cup winners since a 1-1 draw in 1996 when Germany's star striker Jurgen Klinsmann reflected afterwards that it was like visiting goalkeeper Tommy Wright had nailed planks across his goal in Nuremburg.

Nine times they have lost.

Yet rarely during that 29-year period will Sunday's hosts in Cologne have come into the fixture under such pressure. Julian Nagelsmann's side have not won since beating Italy in the first leg of their Nations League quarter-final in March.

While losses to France and Portugal hardly sparked talk of crisis, Thursday night's surprise defeat to Slovakia to start their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign has been viewed differently.

"If anything it'll make the game a lot harder," said Northern Ireland striker Jamie Reid, who scored his side's first goal as they got off to a markedly better start in Group A with a 3-1 win over Luxembourg.

"They're going to be under criticism, they're going to be trying to prove a point, and they're at home."

In contrast, Northern Ireland arrive in Cologne with confidence, not just from their win in Luxembourg - a victory that represented their first competitive away win since March 2023 - but from a run of just four defeats in their past 16 games.

The victory at the Stade de Luxembourg was their first qualifying fixture in almost two years. In the interim, manager Michael O'Neill opted for away friendlies against the likes of Spain, Sweden and Denmark to get his players used to facing Europe's best.

All three of those games ended in defeat, the former pair by 5-1 scorelines, but midfielder Shea Charles believes the side's wider form gives reason for belief going into such a test.

"It's in our mind [those results when] going away to the big nations, but I think after winning this game away from home we can go in with more confidence," said the Southampton midfielder who scored his first international goal in Thursday's win.

"It's really exciting. They've been beat so they'll be coming into the game really wanting to win and we've got to step up to that and put up a good fight."

While O'Neill has targeted top-level opposition in friendlies, his squad has been lifted by an increase in Premier League exposure too.

Since the end of the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, Conor Bradley has returned to Liverpool from a loan spell at Bolton Wanderers and won a league title at Anfield.

Sunderland pair Trai Hume and Dan Ballard, the latter missing Sunday's game through injury, gained promotion to England's top-flight through the play-offs last year, while midfielder Justin Devenny has emerged at Crystal Palace.

Devenny, who scored the winning spot-kick in the penalty shoot-out against Liverpool in the Community Shield last month, believes playing his club football at such a level has him better prepared for the sternest challenges in international football.

"I'm playing against top opposition and the best players in the world week in week out," he said.

"For me I'll almost be familiar with that experience, but it will be tough, and we will need to dig in at times. They will have a point to prove with their result."

'We've got a job to do'

Not all of Northern Ireland's players are so used to the level of opposition expected on Sunday. Injuries have hit O'Neill's panel and Thursday's selection against Luxembourg showed three players plying their trade in England's third tier this season.

Stevenage's Reid was one such player, but the 31-year-old says there will be no sense of being "starstruck" should he again lead the line in Cologne against an expected centre-back pairing of Real Madrid's Antonio Rudiger and Bayern Munich's Jonathan Tah.

"I've had some good games for Northern Ireland, playing Scotland, Spain. This is just another tough test," he said.

"It's one we'll look forward to but also one we can go [into] with belief. We won't be starstruck or anything like that.

"We've got a job to do and we're all going to be working towards that."

There's no doubt, though, that Germany's recent travails have made that job look a little different to when the draw was made in December.

Charles added that a surprise result was "bound to happen" in the group, and the shock in Slovakia makes things "exciting".

Yet realistically, in terms of both the table and the potential for a backlash on Sunday, Northern Ireland would surely have preferred a German victory.

Unless, of course, they can add to their hosts' recent woes on Sunday and, in O'Neill's words, turn a good trip into a great one.

"Going to Germany was going to be tough enough but now they are going to be heavily criticised in the media," the manager said.

"As I said to the players, if we go home with three points it's a good trip, if we go home with more it is a great trip, and we have the chance now to make it a great trip."