Keith Gillespie
Former Northern Ireland winger on BBC Radio 5 live

Look at where we were when Michael O’Neill took over. We were struggling. It was difficult for him at the start. They stood by him. We’re reaping the rewards now.

I remember when we would have 3-4,000 in the stadium during the barren times. Against England and Spain, we heard the noise they can create. But tonight could top everything.

Meetings between Northern Ireland and Switzerland have been something of a rare event over the years.

You have to go back almost two decades since the sides last locked horns, a 10th-minute goal from Darren Patterson giving Northern Ireland a 1-0 win in a friendly in April 1998.

The countries drew 0-0 in another friendly international in August 2004, a game which saw a first cap for a certain Chris Brunt.

Their last competitive encounters were way back in 1964, Northern Ireland winning 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Belfast, but losing 2-1 away to the Swiss despite a goal from the legendary George Best.

It's 32 years since Northern Ireland last secured qualification for a World Cup finals, a 0-0 draw with England at Wembley on 13 November 1985 proving enough to clinch a place at Mexico 1986.

Five years earlier, Billy Bingham's men in green sealed a spot at Spain '82 by beating Israel 1-0 in front of a crowd of more than 50,000 at Windsor Park on 18 November 1981.

Some more memorable November nights in the offing perhaps?

Image source, Getty Images

1986. Mexico. The last time Northern Ireland appeared at a World Cup finals.

Placed in a group with Brazil, Spain and Algeria, Billy Bingham's side drew 1-1 with the latter and lost to the other two. Third in the group was not enough and they headed home.

John Southall
BBC Radio 5 live football reporter

World ranking

Northern Ireland 23-11 Switzerland World Cup appearances Northern Ireland 3-10 Switzerland Qualifying Switzerland won 9 out of 10 Northern Ireland won 4 of last 5 competitive home matches.

Head to head

Northern Ireland won 2, Switzerland won 1, Draw 1

Windsor Park

16,000 raucous, passionate fans. Awash with green and white. Vibrant.

Mission

Keep a clean sheet, avoid the away goal. Win or don’t lose tonight.

Some scene taking place at Windsor Park right now as the home fans wave green and silver flags. If you're can't get up for this as a Northern Ireland player then you won't be up for anything.

Image source, Reuters

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill, speaking to Sky Sports: "We've good size in the team, we have pace, we have power and I think this is the right selection.

"We know we'll have to be very disciplined and there'll be periods without the ball.

"Playing in their half as early as we can is important. We want to ask questions of them. They play quite methodically, quite slow. We want it to be a bit more rough and tumble, with running power involved. It's up to us to make it like that.

"It's been an easy week for preparation because the focus is so high. We were ready for this yesterday. We know the prize is great and we;'re going up against a very strong team. We have everything to gain and they have it all to lose based on how they did in qualification. We have to make that work in our favour."

Strangely enough, the #bbcfootball tweets tonight are looking a bit longer than they were last weekend...

Jed Michael: I know they almost qualified automatically, but Switzerland aren't that good really. Shaqiri is quality but they look blunt up top. I quite fancy NI here. Out of all the seeded teams, I would want them or Denmark. And Switzerland don't have Christian Eriksen...

Andrew Priestley: This is the biggest night at Windsor Park in my generation. Northern Ireland are ready and quietly confident, but Switzerland will also fancy their chances. The home fans will make it unpleasant for them. Here's hoping for a special night.

Image source, Getty Images

"Winning the first leg would make life so much easier in the return fixture," Croatia winger Ivan Perisic said.

"The Greeks will certainly be defensive and try as hard as they can to keep a clean sheet, but we have enough up our sleeve up front in an effort to swing the tie our way in Zagreb.

"It's down to us, just as it was against Ukraine. The new coach injected fresh ideas and we did the best job we could in that vital game."

Image source, BBC Sport

Croatia have won all four of their previous play-off ties - to reach either World Cup or European Championship tournaments - and have booked a place at nine out of 11 major finals as an independent nation.

They clinched second place in Group I with a 2-0 win in Ukraine in their final match, following a turbulent campaign, with coach Ante Cacic sacked and replaced by Zlatko Dalic before the deciding game.

Greece, who finished behind Belgium in Group H, are aiming for a third straight World Cup finals after reaching the knockout phase for the first time at Brazil 2014.

They are hoping captain Vasilis Torosidis and central defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos are fit for the first leg, while Roma defender Kostas Manolas is suspended after a fair play violation.

Fifa ruled Manolas deliberately got himself booked in a 2-1 win over Cyprus - and served a suspension in the final group match against Gibraltar - so he would begin the play-offs with a clean disciplinary record.

Croatia are unbeaten in 11 competitive home games, winning eight and drawing three Greece did not lose an away qualifier, winning three and drawing two

BBC Sport NI's Richard Petrie at Windsor Park: "Windsor Park has been the setting for some memorable nights and significant results in recent years but no match since 1981 has carried as much importance as tonight's World Cup play-off first leg against Switzerland given the magnitude of the prize on offer.

"Northern Ireland's recent revival in fortunes under the inspired stewardship of manager Michael O'Neill took the men in green to a first major tournament for 30 years at the Euro 2016 finals in France, but qualification for next year's World Cup in Russia would rank as an even greater achievement."

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

That they are featuring in the play-offs at all is something of a bitter pill for Switzerland to swallow.

They held a 100% record going in to their final game of Group B, but a 2-0 defeat by Portugal saw them miss out on top spot to Cristiano Ronaldo's mob on goal difference. Ouch.

For the record, no team has ever earned 27 points in a qualifying campaign and failed to reach the World Cup finals.

Currently ranked 11th in the world, the Swiss have appeared at the last three World Cup finals, reaching the round of 16 twice, including in Brazil in 2014.

Image source, Getty Images

Michael O'Neill's side, who are targeting back-to-back tournament appearances after reaching the last 16 at Euro 2016, finished second behind world champions Germany in Group C.

They bagged a very respectable 19 points, but it was never going to be good enough against Joachim Low's lads, who won all 10 of their matches, scoring 43 times in the process.

However, Northern Ireland did see off competition from both the Czech Republic and Norway, which is no mean feat.

A bit of breaking (literally) news for you from elsewhere in international football.

England keeper Jack Butland has withdrawn from the squad for the games against Germany and Brazil after breaking a finger in training this morning.

More here.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

Northern Ireland v Switzerland is just one of four World Cup play-off matches taking place over the next four days. There is another happening tonight, as Croatia host Greece (more on that in a bit).

If you want to know the full lowdown on all four games, why not check out our guide? You can do so by clicking here.

Image source, SNS

There is also some friendly action on tonight, with Scotland taking on the Netherlands - two teams that won't be in Russia next summer.

We have a separate live text for that match, which you can find here.