Northern Ireland Men's Football Team

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Image source, Pacemaker

Northern Ireland captain Trai Hume has challenged his team-mates to carry lessons from friendlies forward into "the games that matter".

Michael O'Neill's side played 33 minutes with 10 men in Tuesday's 1-0 win over Iceland in their final friendly before World Cup qualifying begins in September.

Northern Ireland travel to Luxembourg and Germany in their opening qualifiers, and also face Slovakia in Group A.

"They are the games that matter. We are starting the campaign off with two away games so it is going to be tough," said Sunderland defender Hume.

"We want to have a good start and hopefully get a win in the first game."

Isaac Price's opener gave Northern Ireland the lead in a low-key first half at Windsor Park but Brodie Spencer was dismissed for a last-man tackle in the 57th minute.

"It's one of those things you can't control, but it's good to have that experience as a team. We stuck together and thankfully got the win," added Hume.

"It's tough no matter what level playing with 10 men. You have to run that wee bit extra and put in hard work.

"You never know if that is going to happen in competitive games so it is good to have that experience especially as a young group."

After joining from Irish Premiership side Linfield in 2022, Hume played a key role for Sunderland as they dramatically secured promotion to the Premier League in the play-off final.

The 23-year-old said he is "really excited" about playing in the Premier League.

"I'm probably not looking forward to pre-season as much because it's going to be that wee bit tougher but that's part and parcel of it.

"I'll have to work harder than I have before because I'm stepping up a level and playing in the best league in the world. It will be tough but I'm excited.

"It is a challenge I know me and my team-mates at Sunderland are looking forward to and hopefully we can get going."

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Justin Devenny says Northern Ireland's gritty 1-0 win over Iceland will give the team momentum heading into September's World Cup qualifiers.

Isaac Price netted the opener in the first half but the game turned when Brodie Spencer was sent off for a last-man tackle with 33 minutes to play.

The ten men of Northern Ireland dug deep and ground out a win in their final friendly before they take on Luxembourg and Germany in September.

It was only the third time a Northern Ireland team have won a game with 10 players and the first time since the 1982 World Cup against Spain.

"I think good teams win when they're up against it or when they've got a man sent off," said Crystal Palace's Devenny, 21.

"We stuck together, which I think is key to this group. The togetherness is amazing. Everyone's there for each other.

"Everyone's going to go above and beyond for each other. It's great to have that within a squad and I think that's what brings us up to that next level."

Devenny said that the 10 men of Northern Ireland "dug deep" and that will stand by Michael O'Neill's young team come the qualifiers.

"It might not have been the prettiest game, but we got the result which we wanted.

"On the park, everyone's there talking to each other, making sure everyone's doing their jobs.

"That starts from Pierce all the way up to the striker. Everyone's good at that, to be fair."

Northern Ireland start their qualifying campaign in September with trips to Luxembourg and Germany, and than face Slovakia in October's window.

"We have got the qualifiers coming up and we're all focused on that now but I think this was an important camp to get the group together, try and build momentum because we're going to have tough games."

Image source, Press Eye

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill says he was pleased with the resilience shown by his young side in Tuesday's 1-0 win over Iceland.

Isaac Price opened the scoring in a low-key first half before Brodie Spencer was sent off in the 57th minute of the Windsor Park friendly.

Northern Ireland absorbed plenty of late pressure, but escaped with a win after Pierce Charles' late save to deny Isak Bergmann Johannesson before Ruairi McConville hooked the ball off the line.

"I'm pleased to win the game given the circumstances and going down to 10 men when we did," O'Neill told BBC Sport NI.

"We showed great character and determination to defend our goal and we had to. We carried a little bit of threat as well."

O'Neill admitted Northern Ireland didn't "start the game particularly well" as Iceland dominated possession the early stages.

However, Price's effort lit up the first half and gave the hosts the spark they had been looking for.

O'Neill feels his side will have to improve for World Cup qualifying in September, when they travel to Luxembourg and Germany, but his young side will carry plenty of momentum into their opening matches.

"It took us 25 minutes to get going, we gave up a lot of possession without giving up any chances, to be honest," O'Neill added.

"We worked our way into the game and got the goal. With the opportunities we had, we could have scored again.

"The red card changes things and you have to defend, but we still carried a threat. It's a good result for us against a difficult team and a good way for us to finish the camp and the year."

After winning their first two home games against Iceland (2-0 in 1977 and 3-0 in 2001), Northern Ireland lost their most recent home encounter with them 3-0 in September 2006.

Iceland have won their last two meetings with Northern Ireland, winning 3-0 away and 2-1 at home in EURO 2008 qualifying.

Having won just one of their first 12 (D1 L10) away games against British nations (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales) between 1977 and 2020, Iceland have now won two of their last three (1-0 v England and 3-1 v Scotland).

Northern Ireland are unbeaten in their last five home games in all competitions, winning four and drawing one. They last had a longer run without defeat at home between October 2014 and November 2016 (10).

Iceland won 3-1 at Scotland last time out – they last won back-to-back meetings with fellow European sides back in June 2021 (vs Liechtenstein and Faroe Islands).

Northern Ireland's last two friendlies have seen them lose 5-1 to Sweden (March) and 2-1 to Denmark (June). They last lost three consecutive friendly matches between May 2014 and March 2015, while they last lost three friendlies in the same calendar year back in 2011.

Isaac Price has scored six goals in his last six appearances in all competitions for Northern Ireland, with this run including four goals in three home games.

Andri Gudjohnsen has been involved in four goals in his last five starts for Iceland (3 goals, 1 assist), with his last two goals both coming on British soil (vs Wales and Scotland).

All data provided by Opta

After their 2-1 defeat to Denmark on Saturday, Northern Ireland are back in action on Tuesday as they face Iceland in Belfast.

The match is live across BBC Sport and here is all you need to know about our coverage.

TV coverage

Gavin Andrews will be joined by Josh Magennis and Stuart Dallas at Windsor Park.

Thomas Kane and former NI defender Stephen Craigan are on commentary with coverage starting on BBC Two NI and BBC iPlayer from 19:30 BST

Radio coverage

You can also listen to the match on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Sounds from 19:30 BST.

Former internationals Keith Gillespie and George McCartney will be alongside Joel Taggart with John O'Neill on commentary with Michael Clarke.

Online coverage

You will be able to watch or listen to the match on the BBC Sport NI website with live text build-up starting from 19:00 BST.

We'll also have in-game clips during the match alongside our live text commentary with the best of the reaction, analysis and highlights after the game.

Lauren McCann
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Northern Ireland's Isaac Price says that he wants to emulate the club success that international teammates Conor Bradley and Justin Devenny have enjoyed this season.

Bradley was part of the Liverpool side that won the Premier League, whilst Devenny lifted the FA Cup with Crystal Palace.

Price, who joined West Brom in January from Belgian side Standard Liege, believes the two players are success stories that are inspirational for him and many of his younger teammates.

"You look at Conor, he's a fantastic player. The sky's the limit for him. For a player like me, looking at him, it's something that I aspire to do. I want to go and achieve the things that he's achieved, and he's done so much already," Price said.

"I know I want to go and achieve more. The same with Justin. He's had a very successful season and got a lot of minutes for Palace.

"I think that's the hardest thing to do as a young player is to break into a first team, especially at a Premier League club. They've both done that very well."

The 21-year-old was speaking ahead of Northern Ireland's friendly against Iceland on Tuesday and admits he has played some of his best football for his country as he has felt so at home under boss Michael O'Neill.

"When I'm with Northern Ireland I feel settled straight away and with each game I keep feeling more confident," he added.

"I feel like I'm going to get chances to score and it's just about putting them away.

"A lot of it's down to the manager as well, he's put a lot of trust in me since the start. I've probably played a lot more games than I would if it was under another manager."

Image source, Inpho

Northern Ireland's Isaac Price wants his side to "show more quality" on the ball against Iceland on Tuesday night than they managed in defeat by Denmark.

The visitors to Copenhagen defended well throughout the 2-1 reverse on Saturday but spent large passages of the friendly having to soak up pressure while the Danes dominated possession.

"We want to see more of the ball and show a little bit more quality when we have the ball," said the West Bromwich Albion midfielder.

"It's at home and I think all the team knows how well we do at home and it gives the team a little bit of an extra boost."

The 21-year-old has scored eight goals in 21 internationals but chances were few and far between for Michael O'Neill's side on Saturday after they took an early lead thanks to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's own goal.

The friendly against Iceland, who arrive in Belfast after beating Scotland at Hampden Park on Friday night, is Northern Ireland's last fixture before they begin their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign in September with trips to Luxembourg and Germany.

"I think when you work so hard off the ball, when you're chasing the game a lot, when you finally [get] the ball, you've got to be good enough to keep it," added Price.

"That's definitely something we've got to work on, especially when we know we're going into World Cup qualifiers where we're going to play top opposition like Germany.

"We've got to get better at keeping the ball and that'll be something we work on."

Image source, Inpho

Northern Ireland's Trai Hume believes the lessons from Saturday's 2-1 friendly defeat to Denmark can be of benefit during the side's 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Michael O'Neill's side begin their efforts to make it to the USA, Canada and Mexico next summer with trips to face Luxembourg and Germany in September.

Despite taking the lead in Copenhagen, Sunderland defender Hume said the fact that his side were made to "suffer" without the ball for long periods can be instructive.

"We're going to have to go away to tough teams and probably suffer a bit without the ball the way we did [on Saturday] and try our best to be organised and disciplined," said the 23-year-old who captained the side for the third time.

"It was a very young team out there, especially when the subs came on.

"Obviously, that wee bit of inexperience [was telling], but that's stuff you have to learn from because we are going to go away and it's going to be probably even tougher than what it was."

Northern Ireland will conclude this international window with another friendly against Iceland at Windsor Park with the visitors arriving in Belfast off the back of an away victory over Scotland on Friday night.

"The home record has been very good of late and we don't want to lose that," Hume added.

"Iceland's going to be a tough test, it'll be another tough game, but we've got to be ready for it."