Northern Ireland will face familiar foes in their opening World Cup qualifier when visiting Luxembourg on Thursday, and are fancied to come out on top.
With a trip to Group A heavyweights Germany quickly following on Sunday, Michael O’Neill will be determined to collect maximum points first up.
The visitors have looked the better team in recent meetings and get the nod at 6/5 to prevail as our initial Luxembourg vs Northern Ireland prediction.
Betting Odds
Luxembourg v Northern Ireland Betting Odds – World Cup Qualifying 2025/26
Outcome | Odds | Chance |
|---|---|---|
Luxembourg | 11/3 | 26.7% |
Northern Ireland | 6/5 | 45.5% |
Draw | 7/4 | 36.4% |
Luxembourg go into this game as 11/4 outsiders to claim all three points at home. Away side Northern Ireland, on the other hand, find themselves as 6/5 favourites. The draw is available to punters at odds of 7/4.
*Odds are correct at the time of writing, but subject to change.
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How To Watch
How To Watch Luxembourg vs Northern Ireland
This match kicks off at 19:45 BST and will be broadcast live on BBC Three, BBC Two NI and BBC iPlayer.
Head-To-Head
Luxembourg vs Northern Ireland Head-To-Head Record
This will be the fifth meeting between these two sides in the last six years, and the green and white army have enjoyed recent encounters.
Following a couple of friendly wins, Northern Ireland prevailed 2-0 at home in the Nations League last September thanks to goals from Paddy McNair and Dan Ballard.
O’Neill’s men looked to be heading towards another victory in November’s reverse fixture when strikes by Isaac Price and Conor Bradley put them in control, only for Luxembourg to level it up at 2-2 with a quickfire double from Seid Korac and Gerson Rodrigues.
Form Guide
Northern Ireland Form Guide
Northern Ireland have since had four friendlies, drawing at home to Switzerland, losing away to Sweden and Denmark, but then edging out Iceland 1-0 in Belfast.
Midfielder Price netted the winner at Windsor Park and has been in prolific goalscoring form for his country, striking seven times in as many international appearances.
Having already grabbed three goals in the Championship for West Brom this season, the Price is right at 10/3 for him to score at any time in the Luxembourg vs Northern Ireland odds.
Looking ahead to this game, head coach O’Neill insisted: “It’s not ideal to play back-to-back away games, but that’s what the draw has done. I think the focus really has to be on the first game. The game against Germany will take care of itself.
“We have to try and go into that game on a high, and to do that, we really need a positive result in the game against Luxembourg, and our focus has to be on that."
Luxembourg Form Guide
Luxembourg, ranked 92nd in the world, to Northern Ireland’s 71st, have made progress of late and held Republic of Ireland to a goalless draw on home turf in a June friendly.
They also claimed a notable 1-0 triumph over Sweden at Stade de Luxembourg in March, before losing to Switzerland away and Slovenia at home.
However, there will be a major change this time around, with Luc Holtz having ended his 15-year reign as national team manager to take charge of Waldhof Mannheim. Former Luxembourg defender Jeff Strasser has been named as his replacement after several years coaching in the country’s top flight.
“I think they’ve made a lot of progress as a nation, as a small nation, and they have some very, very good players who are playing at a good level across Europe,” O’Neill said. “But I think a lot of that success was based on the stability of the coach who had been there for 14, 15 years."
Let’s add a BOYLE Sports price boost of 9/2 for a draw at half-time and then the visitors to prevail to our Luxembourg vs Northern Ireland betting tips.
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*Prices are subject to fluctuation
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