Northern Ireland v Luxembuourg (05/09/2024)

CHRISTOPHER MARTINS PEREIRA MIDFIELDER SPARTAK MOSCOW (RUS) AGE 27 CAPS 67 GOALS 1 Martins Pereira first broke through with Ligue 1 club Lyon before joining Young Boys in 2019, going on to win two Swiss Super League titles with the club. In January 2022 he joined Spartak Moscow on a loan deal before making the switch permanent in the summer. He won the Russian Cup with Spartak in May 2022. FLORIAN BOHNERT MIDFIELDER SC BASTIA (FRA) AGE 26 CAPS 45 GOALS 1 Bastia’s Bohnert boasts impressive versatility and is comfortable playing on either flank, either at full-back or on the wing. He joined Ligue 2 club Bastia on a free transfer in January 2023 and has quickly made himself a key part of the Bastia team. AGE 30 CAPS 36 GOALS 3 Sebastien is the brother of fellow Luxembourg internationals Olivier and Vincent Thill. All three were involved the last time Luxembourg played Northern Ireland, back in March 2022 when the boys in green and white won 3-1. When with Progres Niederkorn, Thill scored in a 2-1 aggregate win over Rangers in the Europa League qualifying round in July 2017. SEBASTIEN THILL MIDFIELDER STAL RZESZOW (POL)

LEANDRO BARREIRO MIDFIELDER SL BENFICA (POR)

SOFIANE IKENE MIDFIELDER 1 FC NURNBERG (GER)

AGE 24 CAPS 56 GOALS 2 Luxembourg’s star player was linked with the likes of Everton and Nottingham Forest before he joined Benfica on a free transfer this summer after spending six years in the senior squad at Bundesliga club Mainz, where the defensive midfielder scored 11 goals in 151 appearances. FABIO LOHEI MIDFIELDER FC METZ (FRA) AGE 19 CAPS 2 GOALS 0 After training as a youngster with Differdange and Racing FC, Lohei moved to Metz’s academy in 2018 and stepped up to the club’s B team in 2022. He made his senior international debut against Hungary in November 2022 and has moved between the senior set-up and the U21s, featuring for the latter against England in March. TIMOTHE RUPIL MIDFIELDER FC SCHALKE 04 (GER) AGE 21 CAPS 10 GOALS 0 Rupil came through the ranks with Mainz 05 but left for Schalke this summer, and is currently playing for the German club’s B team. He made his international debut as a teenager in a 2-1 home loss to Liechtenstein in October 2020.

AGE 19 CAPS 2 GOALS 0 Ikene is another youngster for whom Luxembourg hold high hopes. He came through the ranks with F91 Dudelange but earned a move to German second tier side Nurnberg in 2023, having made his debut for the national team against the Faroe Islands in June 2022.

MATHIAS OLESEN MIDFIELDER 1 FC KOLN (GER)

AGE 23 CAPS 21 GOALS 1 Born in Denmark, Olesen moved to Luxembourg as a child. He began his career just across the German border in the academy of Eintracht Trier before joining FC Koln where he has made it through to the senior ranks. He also spent time on loan at Swiss club Yverdon Sport last season.

ERIC VEIGA MIDFIELDER AVS FUTEBOL (POR)

AGE 27 CAPS 5 GOALS 0 Veiga was on the books of Bayer Leverkusen as a

youngster before beginning his professional career with Eintracht Braunschweig in Germany. He played for Portugal at youth level but made his debut for Luxembourg in a friendly against Latvia in September 2016.

EDVIN MURATOVIC FORWARD ODRA OPOLE (POL)

GERSON RODRIGUES FORWARD GUANXI PINGGUO HALIAO (CHN) AGE 29 CAPS 62 GOALS 21 Portuguese-born Rodrigues, like a number of his team mates, came through the ranks with Metz in France. Luxembourg’s top scorer signed for Dynamo Kyiv in 2019 but the situation in Ukraine has seen him go on several loan moves since, and he is currently playing in China.

DANEL SINANI FORWARD FC ST PAULI (GER)

JAYSON VIDEIRA FORWARD HANNOVER 96 (GER)

AGE 27 CAPS 15 GOALS 1 Muratovic played for both Luxembourg and Montenegro as a youngster. When the time came to make a decision about who to represent at senior level he plumped for Luc Holtz’s side and made his debut against none other than Montenegro. Luxembourg won the game in October 2020 by two goals to one.

AGE 27 CAPS 63 GOALS 13 Serbian-born Sinani won two Luxembourg titles with Dudelange before moving to Norwich in 2020, spending three years with the Canaries in a spell that included time on loan with Huddersfield and Wigan. He was released by Norwich in the summer of 2023 and joined St Pauli.

AGE 19 CAPS 1 GOALS 0 Videira made his debut for Luxembourg this summer, coming on as a late substitute to replace Gerson Rodrigues in a 3-0 friendly defeat to Belgium. He joined Hannover’s youth set-up in 2021 and continues to progress through the ranks at the German club.

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