WORLD CUP QUALIFIER: Germany v Northern Ireland - PAST MEETINGS

Here, we look at some of the more famous previous fixtures between the nations.

Northern Ireland 1 West Germany 0 (Belfast, European Championships qualifier, November 17, 1982)

Arguably the greatest result Northern Ireland have ever achieved at Windsor Park came from a goal from Belfast’s own Ian Stewart, who said recently: “I just went in and played like I did at Belvoir Primary School.” Just four months earlier West Germany had been defeated in a World Cup final in Spain in a tournament that Billy Bingham’s side were also involved in.

West Germany 0 Northern Ireland 1 (Hamburg, European Championships qualifier, November 16, 1983)

Billed as the hosts’ revenge game following their reverse in Belfast one year earlier, Northern Ireland achieved what Bingham thought was the best result of his long spell in charge of the country. Norman Whiteside scored the game’s only goal for a team also featuring current assistant boss Jimmy Nicholl, who also played in the return fixture in Belfast.

Northern Ireland 1 Germany 3 (Belfast, World Cup qualifier, August 20, 1997)

A famous Northern Irish victory looked to be on the cards when Michael Hughes put the hosts ahead on the hour mark. Enter Oliver Bierhoff with 21 minutes to go. Within 10 minutes, his hat-trick had changed the game. The gap between the first and third goals was a world record six minutes as the home side were ruthlessly put away by the man whose double clinched Euro 1996 success the previous summer.

Northern Ireland 1 Germany 4 (Belfast, friendly, June 4, 2005)

On what was meant to be a night to celebrate the Irish Football Association’s 125th anniversary, Robert Huth left the party 15 minutes in having been sent off for a deliberate handball. David Healy converted the penalty but the one-man advantage mattered little as Germany fought back and stuck four past a Northern Ireland side which included international debutant Gareth McAuley.

Northern Ireland 0 Germany 1 (Paris, European Championship finals, June 21, 2016)

This was maybe a slender loss in terms of the scoreline but the Germans, two years removed from a World Cup triumph in Brazil, dominated with a performance befitting their status as the best on the planet. Mario Gomez’s first-half goal was all they had to show for it, though, thanks to a plethora of saves from Michael McGovern. The defeat in the final group game did not prevent Northern Ireland from advancing to the knock-out stages, yet the energy expended in chasing Joachim Low’s impressive outfit around may have played a factor in their last-16 loss to Wales.