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Northern Ireland national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Mar 26, 2023 at 7.45pm UK
Windsor Park
Finland national football team

N. Ireland
0 - 1
Finland


Charles (74')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Kallman (28')
Jensen (48'), Soiri (90+4')

Preview: Northern Ireland vs. Finland - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Sunday's Euro Champ Qualifying clash between Northern Ireland and Finland, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Northern Ireland play host to Finland on Sunday evening looking to record what would be a crucial win in their bid to qualify for Euro 2024.

While the home side eased past San Marino earlier this week, Finland went down to Group H favourites Denmark.


Match preview

Stoke City manager Michael O'Neill after the match on January 9, 2022© Reuters

As ideal fixtures go for first matches in charge, a trip to San Marino is up there with the most favourable, and Michael O'Neill and Northern Ireland took advantage of that on Thursday night.

Although a 2-0 scoreline was not as wide as some may anticipated, it was all about the performance and the maximum points, as well as giving some of the younger crop some much-needed experience on the international stage.

Each of those boxes were ticked, while Dion Charles finally ending his wait for a goal at this level by netting strikes either side of half time.

With that fixture out of the way, O'Neill and his squad will now focus on tougher tests to come, their next three encounters being Finland, Denmark and Kazakhstan.

The games with the former and the latter are at Windsor Park, yet familiar territory was not a happy hunting ground during 2022 as Northern Ireland won just one of their four fixtures, a 2-1 triumph over Kosovo.

Finland coach Markku Kanerva on May 29, 2021© Reuters

From Finland's perspective, there was naturally disappointment in losing out to Scandinavian rivals Denmark away from home, yet Markku Kanerva will be taking the positives from the experience.

In the hardest fixture on their schedule, Finland entered the final 10 minutes on level terms, only to succumb to two further goals from Rasmus Hojlund as he completed his hat-trick.

Including games which were played with fringe members in January, Finland have now won just twice in 13 outings, although five of those contests have ended in draws.

The Eagle-owls also ended last year with three away fixtures in Montenegro, North Macedonia and Norway, coming away from that triple-header with one victory and two draws.

While Finland are on a four-game winless streak versus Northern Ireland, those games in question took place between 2006 and 2015.

Northern Ireland Euro Champ Qualifying form:


Northern Ireland form (all competitions):


Finland Euro Champ Qualifying form:


Finland form (all competitions):



Team News

Northern Ireland's Josh Magennis celebrates scoring against Northern Ireland in the UEFA Nations League on November 15, 2020© Reuters

O'Neill may choose to select the same Northern Ireland XI from Thursday, although he acknowledged after the match that he was managing the game time of Conor Washington and Josh Magennis.

The latter may get the nod on this occasion, but taking the opportunity to rest players during the final quarter in San Marino was with this match in mind.

Manchester City youngster Shea Charles, who is yet to make a senior appearance at club level, should feature again in the centre of midfield.

Kanerva is also unlikely to overly-tinker with his Finland side given the account that they gave of themselves in Copenhagen.

Marcus Forss, who has been in form for Middlesbrough this season, could be drafted into the team on the flank or in attack, while Rasmus Schuller will hope to return in midfield after being absent for the Denmark match.

Northern Ireland possible starting lineup:
Peacock-Farrell; Ballard, Cathcart, Brown; Bradley, McNair, S. Charles, Saville, Lewis; Magennis, D. Charles

Finland possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Alho, Vaisanen, Ivanov, Jensen; Lod, Kairinen, Kamara, Antman; Pohjanpalo, Pukki


SM words green background

We say: Northern Ireland 1-1 Finland

Although we remain in the early stages of the group, this is a potentially-pivotal fixture for these nations. With both teams aware that avoiding defeat is imperative, a low-scoring draw feels like the most likely outcome.



For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.


Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data


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Written by
Darren Plant

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Game History

How you voted: N. Ireland vs Finland

Northern Ireland
57.3%
Draw
17.3%
Finland
25.5%
110
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Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill pictured on November 16, 2019
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Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain870121
Q Scotland flag Scotland852117
3 Norway Norway832311
4 Georgia Georgia82248
5 Cyprus Cyprus80080

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France871022
Q Netherlands Netherlands860218
3 Greece Greece841313
4 Ireland Rep. Ireland82066
5 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar80080

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England862020
Q Italy Italy842214
3 Ukraine Ukraine842214
4 Macedonia N. Macedonia82248
5 Malta flag Malta80080

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Turkey Turkey852117
Q Croatia Croatia851216
3 Wales flag Wales833212
4 Armenia Armenia82248
5 Latvia Latvia81073

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Albania national flag Albania843115
Q Czech Republic Czech Republic843115
3 Poland Poland832311
4 Republic of Moldova Moldova824210
5 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands80262

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Belgium Belgium862020
Q Austria Austria861119
3 Sweden Sweden831410
4 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan82157
5 Estonia Estonia80171

Group G

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Hungary Hungary853018
Q Serbia Serbia842214
3 Montenegro Montenegro832311
4 Lithuania Lithuania81346
5 Bulgaria Bulgaria80444

Group H

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Denmark Denmark1071222
Q Slovenia Slovenia1071222
3 Finland Finland1060418
4 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan1060418
5 Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland103079
6 San Marino flag San Marino1000100

Group I

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania1064022
Q Switzerland Switzerland1045117
3 Israel Israel1043315
4 Belarus Belarus1033412
5 Kosovo flag Kosovo1025311
6 Andorra flag Andorra100282

Group J

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal10100030
Q Slovakia Slovakia1071222
3 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg1052317
4 Iceland Iceland1031610
5 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina103079
6 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein1000100


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