Can new Northern Ireland stars step up on world stage?

Luxembourg vs. Northern Ireland: Fifa World Cup qualifier

Date: Thursday, September 4th, 2019 Kick-off: 19:45 BST

When Northern Ireland attempt to qualify for the 2026 World Cup against Luxembourg on Thursday, it will be their first qualifying match in almost two years because of the nature of the international football calendar.

The last time Michael O’Neill’s side faced such a fixture was in October 2023, when they defeated Denmark 2-0, which turned out to be a bit of an anomaly.

Only four victories, two of which came from San Marino and Lithuania, were recorded in the side’s previous 17 qualifiers.

If the team’s run of results over the course of two qualifying campaigns appeared to have signaled the end of a golden era for them, which included qualifying for Euro 2016 and reaching play-offs for the World Cup of 2018 and Euro 2020, then the point was brought home by the squad’s changing face over the course of the next 23 months.

Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas, Craig Cathcart, Jonny and Corry Evans, and Craig Cathcart have all left the football field since that final qualifying game.

A dynamic young core centered on Conor Bradley, Isaac Price, Shea Charles, and Trai Hume has taken the side’s place as they prepare to face both Germany and Slovakia as well as Luxembourg.

Manager Michael O’Neill said, “That game against Denmark probably marked the beginning of it.”

After a difficult campaign for 2024 that ended many players’ careers at international level, “it was quite a young team that played that night,” the young team said.

We’ve had to develop and grow a team over the past two years. Sometimes, when perhaps it was a little too early, we’ve maybe hired some young players, but we still thought it was the right course of action.

The idea that he would have to “grow a team” was probably not at the forefront of O’Neill’s mind when he left for the post in December 2022.

However, injury-related unavailability also caused Dallas and Davis to enter retirement earlier than they had anticipated, while other senior players also experienced unavailability.

The former Newcastle United midfielder has played well after being dealt the unwelcome hand.

There have been some harsh lessons learned when “a little early” exposes talented young players to the demands of international football, most notably a 5-1 defeat by Spain six weeks before La Roja won Euro 2024 and a 2-13 defeat to Sweden on the same night when Alexander Isak ran riot.

However, the most notable results from the past two years have been dramatic improvements in output, many of which were achieved through performances in accordance with O’Neill standards.

There is a sense that the new manager has always been the one constant during this transition.

O’Neill is gearing up for his fifth qualifying campaign as manager after an eight-year international playing career, having led the team 96 times in his two spells.

“Any football situation, whether it’s at a club or an international one, benefits from stability,” I believe. That’s an important thing, he said, “I believe.”

I had been in the position for eight years, according to the IFA, who I left with. Then, returning and committing myself to this five-year commitment creates stability.

Northern Ireland has had to wait to begin their campaign despite being drawn in a four-team group, where two intriguing, if vastly different, tests will be taking place.

The group’s lowest-ranked team will travel to Luxembourg on Thursday, returning to a ground where they lost a two-goal lead to draw in the Nations League game in November.

In Cologne, they will take on four-time World Cup winners Germany just three days later, a game that will serve as a benchmark for how far they have come since those difficult encounters with Spain and Sweden.

With only six games left, the margins are so slim that fans are frantically looking for flights and lodging when they get four points this week, compared to the previous three, who feel like the dream has come to an end before it even starts.

O’Neill rejects the idea, even though the squad’s age profile might suggest that this qualifying campaign comes one cycle too soon.

This will be the players’ first chance to qualify for a World Cup, said O’Neill for the majority of the players in this group.

You have to wait another four years before this opportunity comes along again, O’Neill said, so look, don’t take it for granted.

Our goal is to keep our company as close to the competition as possible.