Our prediction for this World Cup 2026 match:
Luxembourg
Match Time & Date:
4 September 2025
19:45
Prediction: 0-0
Northern Ireland
Luxembourg will look to make a flying start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign when they face Northern Ireland on Thursday evening. As Luxembourg were struggling offensively in June friendlies, they should find it hard to break Northern Ireland’s defence. Experienced players Sebastien Thill, Vincent Thill, Gerson Rodrigues, and Lars Gerson all made the cut.
Michael O’Neill’s troops, on the other hand, aim to build on a hard-fought 1-0 win over Iceland. Northern Ireland looked solid at the back in their last warm-up game and given Luxembourg’s difficulties up front, there is a big value in betting on under 2.5 goals. The good news for the visitors is that goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell and skipper Eoin Toal both return from injuries. Liverpool right-back Conor Bradley made the cut as well despite struggling for first-team football in the new Premier League season.
Highlighted Team (Northern Ireland):
Competing first under the Irish flag and then as an independent entity, Northern Ireland are one of world’s oldest national teams, but they haven’t enjoyed too much success in history. Led by Danny Blanchflower, the Irish impressed at their first ever World Cup finals appearance, reaching the quarter-finals in 1958, but they have since only played at the 1982 and 1986 tournaments, reaching round 2 and crashing out in the group stage respectively.
Northern Ireland had failed to qualify for 13 successive European Championship finals before finally booking their ticket to the Euro 2016 in France, and the fans hope this success will only be a sign of things to come. Without a doubt, George Best is the most famous footballer to have ever put on the green shirt, scoring 9 goals in 37 appearances, but he couldn’t help the national team close the gap behind Europe’s top sides.
Some of the other high-profile footballers include Pat Jennings, Aaron Hughes, David Healy, Keith Gillespie, Steven Davies and Gareth McAuley.
Georgia 
Turkey
Bulgaria 
Spain
Liechtenstein
Belgium
Netherlands 
Poland 
Slovakia 
Germany
Argentina
Venezuela 
