Here's a statistic to warm Northern Ireland hearts ahead of what promises to be a nail-biting 90 minutes in Belfast.

The last time they qualified for a major tournament - the 1986 World Cup - they defeated Romania twice on the way to Mexico.

Norman Whiteside and Martin O'Neill were among the scorers in a 3-2 win in Belfast before Jimmy Quinn netted the only goal in Bucharest.

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Romania are 12th in Fifa's rankings - 32 places above Northern Ireland.

While Sunderland keeper Costel Pantilimon has been ruled out with a knee injury, Tottenham defender Vlad Chiriches does start. The 25-year-old, who cost £8.5m from Steaua Bucharest in August 2013, saw his season at Spurs curtailed by a red card at Stoke on 9 May.

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What a huge night for 30-year-old goalkeeper Michael McGovern.

Roy Carroll has played every minute of Michael O'Neill's 15 competitive fixtures as Northern Ireland boss.

But the 37-year-old former Manchester United player has been ruled out due to abdominal pain leaving Hamilton keeper McGovern to start his first competitive game for his country.

This was supposed to be the most tedious qualification process international football has ever cooked up: 53 European nations reduced to 24 finalists. But there is a welcome sense of anticipation in the air with Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and the Republic of Ireland all in with a chance of making it to Euro 2016.

So, is this the most exciting qualifying tournament ever? Let us know by tweeting #bbcfootball,, external text 81111 (UK only) or post a message on the BBC Sport Facebook, external and Google+, external pages.

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Belfast isn't the only city hosting a crucial Group F match today. The full-time whistle has just been blown between Finland and Hungary and there was a big goal in the latter stages - which isn't great news for Northern Ireland.

Hungary nicked a 1-0 win thanks to a rasping half-volley from Zoltan Stieber (who was once on the books of Aston Villa).

And that means they are now just a point behind Michael O'Neill's side. That won't help the pre-match nerves inside the home dressing room at Windsor Park....

BBC Radio 5 live

Listen to live commentary from Windsor Park on BBC Radio 5 live. Build-up starts in a moment at 19:00 BST with full commentary from 19:45 BST with Alistair Bruce-Ball and former Northern Ireland midfielder and ex-Barnsley boss Danny Wilson. Just click on the 'Live coverage' tab to listen.

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He ended last season in Turkey on loan at Rizespor after falling out of favour at Norwich City, but Kyle Lafferty cannot stop scoring for Northern Ireland.

The former Burnley and Rangers striker has scored five of his country's eight goals in qualifying, including two against Finland on 29 March.

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Kyle Lafferty had no idea Northern Ireland would be knocking on the door of Euro 2016 when he set a date for his wedding to fiancee Vanessa Chung.

The 27-year-old striker, who has been in terrific goalscoring form for his country during the first half of the qualifying campaign, had earmarked a June 2016 date for their big day.

But with Northern Ireland on course to qualify for next summer's tournament, which starts on 10 June, Lafferty has been forced into a rethink.

"To be thinking the wedding can't be on this day because we could be in France with my country playing in the finals is a good feeling," he told Sky Sports. , external"My fiancee has been absolutely fantastic. She doesn't want me to have any regrets."

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Northern Ireland start second in the Group F table but victory in Belfast will see them leapfrog leaders Romania with four games to play.

With the top two teams qualifying automatically, no wonder Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty is on the brink of rescheduling his wedding which is due to take place smack bang in the middle of Euro 2016.

There is, of course, still a long way to go but even if Northern Ireland finish third in the table they will enter the play-offs. However, the best third-placed team (with results against the sixth-placed team discarded) directly qualify to the finals.

Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill makes two changes from the side which beat Finland 2-1 in March, handing first competitive starts to Hamilton Academical goalkeeper Michael McGovern and Stuart Dallas. Brentford winger Dallas gets the nod ahead of Niall McGinn in a 4-3-3 formation, while left-back Chris Brunt wins his 50th cap.

Team: McGovern, C McLaughlin, J Evans, McAuley, Brunt, Baird, Davis, Norwood, Lafferty, Dallas, Ward.

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They've not qualified for a major tournament for 29 years.

Three years ago Northern Ireland couldn't beat Luxembourg, Azerbaijan or Malta and plummeted to 129th in Fifa's rankings.

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But the Green and White Army are on the rise.

They've won four of their last five competitive games and they have the second joint top-scorer in Euro 2016 qualifying.

Defeat group leaders Romania at Windsor Park and Northern Ireland can move to within striking distance of making next year's finals in France.