Northern Ireland v Switzerland 08SEPT

Northern Ireland have previously played full internationals on 8 September on just five occasions with only one of those games ending in a victory. The full list is: 1993 V LATVIA (H) – WCQ – WON 2-0 (Jimmy Quinn, Phil Gray) 1999 V GERMANY (A) – ECQ – LOST 0-4 2004 V WALES (A) – WCQ – DREW 2-2 (Jeff Whitley, David Healy) 2007 V LATVIA (A) – ECQ – LOST 0-1 2018 V BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (H) – NL – LOST 1-2 (Will Grigg)

Northern Ireland have played this evening’s opponents Switzerland on a total of six occasions. The first meeting came in Belfast in 1964 when the home side defeated them 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier thanks to a Jonny Crossan penalty, although the return match in Lausanne, exactly one month later, ended in a 2-1 defeat for Bertie Peacock’s side. The most recent encounters between the two countries came in the play- offs for the 2018 World Cup when the Swiss won 1-0 on aggregate over the two games. Our full record against them is: P W D L F A 6 2 2 2 3 3

Tonight’s encounter with Switzerland will be Northern Ireland’s 65th World Cup Qualifier at Windsor Park. The first ever World Cup qualifier to take place at the stadium was on 1 October 1949 when visitors Scotland ran out very comfortable 8-2 winners. Northern Ireland’s two goals that day came from Wolves forward Sammy Smyth. Since that inauspicious start , performances and results have improved. Our full record

now reads: P W D

L A 64 31 14 19 96 65 F

George Best held many records during his career, but did you know that he was the first ever player to convert from the spot in a penalty shootout in a professional game in England? It came in 1970 in the semi-final of the Watney Cup, a pre-season invitational tournament , when Manchester United played Hull City at Boothferry Park. After a 1-1 draw, United won 4-3 on penalties, despite Denis Law becoming the first ever player to miss from 12 yards in a shootout decider.

At 17 years and 172 days, Nottingham Forest’s Dale Taylor became the youngest ever player to score for the Northern Ireland U21 side when they defeated their Scottish counterparts 2-1 at Dumbarton back in June. A total of 77 players have found the net for the U21 side since 1978, scoring a total of 145 goals (four of which have been from opposition players) . Northern Ireland’s top scorers at this level are two players who are in tonight’s senior squad, Liam Donnelly and Shayne Lavery, both of whom have scored five goals apiece.

IRISHFA.COM

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