Northern Ireland began their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign with a 3-1 win over Luxembourg at the Stade de Luxembourg.

Jamie Reid gave the visitors the lead in the eighth minute, but Luxembourg deservedly equalised through Aiman Dardari after half an hour.

Michael O'Neill's side were much improved after the break and earned victory thanks to first international goals from Shea Charles and Justin Devenny with Luxembourg's Seid Korac shown a second yellow in between.

Northern Ireland started on the front foot and twice tested goalkeeper Anthony Moris in the opening three minutes.

It was in the build-up to the second opportunity, when Reid was through on goal, that referee Andris Treimanis was alerted by the video assistant referee that Korac had handled in the area.

Moris would make his third save of the game from Isaac Price's penalty, but Stevenage striker Reid was on hand to slot home the rebound for his second international goal.

The returning Bailey Peacock-Farrell did not have his first save to make until the 26th minute when he parried Mathias Olesen's downward header away from goal.

But three minutes later, the on-loan Blackpool keeper was picking the ball out of his net after Danel Sinani's delightful flick teed up Dardari, who cut in and curled home from the edge of the box.

Having started the half so strongly, Northern Ireland almost produced the perfect ending but Devenny's free-kick struck the crossbar.

They would have to wait less than 30 seconds after the restart to regain the lead, however, when Charles' deflected effort wrong-footed Moris.

Korac, who had already been booked in the aftermath of the penalty incident, was shown a second yellow for a clash with Reid in the 66th minute.

Luxembourg were left to feel doubly aggrieved when Charles lofted the resulting free-kick into the box and, after the hosts failed to clear, Crystal Palace's Devenny fired into the bottom corner.

Northern Ireland's next game in Group A is on Sunday in Cologne when they meet Germany (19:45 BST).

When Northern Ireland were last in Luxembourg, only 10 months ago in the Nations League, O'Neill's side had led 2-0 with 20 minutes remaining, only to be pegged back in a 2-2 draw.

That result, although enough to see them top their Nations League C pool, meant the side's wait for a competitive win on their travels continued to stretch back to a March 2023 victory over San Marino in qualifying for Euro 2024.

Despite a blistering start on Thursday night that saw them twice test Moris even before Reid fired home the rebound from Price's missed penalty, for a long stretch this looked as if it could be another frustrating away day for Northern Ireland.

Ceding the initiative after that early goal, Luxembourg's equaliser 15 minutes before half-time was wholly deserved and, without overly troubling the restored Peacock-Farrell, the hosts looked the more likely to grasp control of the game.

But O'Neill has consistently stressed how his young side will benefit from experiences both good and bad as they become more accustomed to the international stage.

Whether it be the instructive lesson of losing that lead here last time around, or the experience of grinding out a friendly win when down to 10 men against Iceland in June, there was a steeliness to the way the visitors hung in and saw things swing back in their favour.

This was far from their most fluid performance - there was no doubt they missed the passing ability of goalkeeper Pierce Charles when trying to build from the back - and O'Neill cut a frustrated figure for much of the first half especially.

A winning start to the Group A was paramount, however, all the more so after Slovakia's surprise win over Germany in the night's other fixture.

On their travels, a case of job done.

Northern Ireland: Michael O'Neill's side make the short trip to Germany for the second game of this away double-header in Pool A.

They will take on the four-time World Cup winners at the RheinEnergieStadion on Sunday (19:45 BST), looking to end a run of nine straight defeats against the side who suffered a surprise loss against Slovakia.

Luxembourg: Jeff Strasser's team will be back at the Stade de Luxembourg on Sunday night (19:45 BST) when they face a Slovakia side who will now travel with plenty of confidence.