Northern Ireland will be looking to win their second game of Euro 2024 qualifying when they host San Marino. After losing five of their first six games, Michael O’Neill’s team is officially out of the running for a spot in next year’s finals when they take on the only country below them in Group H standings.
Preview (Northern Ireland vs. San Marino)
Northern Ireland continued their futile effort to qualify for Germany next summer. It is the same week that the UK and Ireland were named the hosts of Euro 2028. Some games are scheduled to be played at Belfast’s Casement Park. After a first-day victory over San Marino, the team’s qualifying campaign suffered a serious setback. They suffered five straight losses in a group devoid of any European heavyweights has attracted criticism. Coach Michael O’Neill has admitted he is already preparing for events in five years. The Kazakhs, Denmark, Slovenia, and Finland are battling it out for first and second place. Northern Ireland is now in fifth place and is behind fourth-placed Kazakhstan by at least nine points. They can practically play only for pride in their next four matches.
After losing on the road in September to Slovenia and Kazakhstan, they are now back at home. The Windsor Park doubleheader presents a chance to at least gain more points. Following San Marino’s weekend visit, group leaders Slovenia, who defeated Northern Ireland 4-2 in the rematch last month, come to Belfast on Tuesday. O’Neill, who guided Northern Ireland to their first Euros in 2016 is now back in command for a second time. He will try to strike a balance between making progress toward the future and maintaining some face on both occasions. San Marino has never even come close to qualifying for the European Championship. They continue to finish bottom of their qualifying group.
San Marino has lost five games in Group H while allowing 21 goals overall without scoring any of their own. It gave them the poorest record of any team competing in the Euro 2024 qualifying process. Since joining the fray in 1990, they have lost 81 of their 82 Euro qualifiers.
Team News
Ali McCann of Preston North End is out with a calf injury, joining fellow long-term absentees Stuart Dallas, Corry Evans, Shane Ferguson, and skipper Steven Davis in Northern Ireland’s injury woes this month. Conor Bradley also joins them. A more encouraging development is that Saturday’s opponents have called up teenage striker Callum Marshall. He had a goal disallowed on his senior debut against Denmark in June. He has scored 12 goals in 9 games for West Ham United’s Under-21 team this season. Jonny Evans, a defender with 104 caps, will captain Northern Ireland once more after making an impressive comeback to the first team at Manchester United. Uncapped players Eoin Toal and Brad Lyons will also be hoping for a chance to play.
Matteo Vitaioli, a striker for La Fiorita who has made 87 prior appearances for San Marino but has only scored once, is the team’s captain. Roberto Di Maio, a defender who is now 41 years old, made his international debut earlier this year and has since been called up once more by coach Fabrizio Costantini. While playing for Modena in Italy’s Serie B, goalkeeper Elia Benedettini has only kept two clean sheets in 45 outings for his country.
Prior to their journey to Windsor Park, San Marino’s winless streak had stretched to 132 games. They were due to suffer their seventh successive defeat in Group H there. The home-field advantage and relative lack of pressure should allow Northern Ireland to easily defeat one of football’s smallest minnows, despite the fact that they frequently struggle to score.
Northern Ireland 3 – 0 San Marino
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