In contrast, Northern Ireland arrive in Cologne with confidence, not just from their win in Luxembourg – a victory that represented their first competitive away win since March 2023 – but from a run of just four defeats in their past 16 games.
The victory at the Stade de Luxembourg was their first qualifying fixture in almost two years. In the interim, manager Michael O’Neill opted for away friendlies against the likes of Spain, Sweden and Denmark to get his players used to facing Europe’s best.
All three of those games ended in defeat, the former pair by 5-1 scorelines, but midfielder Shea Charles believes the side’s wider form gives reason for belief going into such a test.
“It’s in our mind [those results when] going away to the big nations, but I think after winning this game away from home we can go in with more confidence,” said the Southampton midfielder who scored his first international goal in Thursday’s win.
“It’s really exciting. They’ve been beat so they’ll be coming into the game really wanting to win and we’ve got to step up to that and put up a good fight.”
While O’Neill has targeted top-level opposition in friendlies, his squad has been lifted by an increase in Premier League exposure too.
Since the end of the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, Conor Bradley has returned to Liverpool from a loan spell at Bolton Wanderers and won a league title at Anfield.
Sunderland pair Trai Hume and Dan Ballard, the latter missing Sunday’s game through injury, gained promotion to England’s top-flight through the play-offs last year, while midfielder Justin Devenny has emerged at Crystal Palace.
Devenny, who scored the winning spot-kick in the penalty shoot-out against Liverpool in the Community Shield last month, believes playing his club football at such a level has him better prepared for the sternest challenges in international football.
“I’m playing against top opposition and the best players in the world week in week out,” he said.
“For me I’ll almost be familiar with that experience, but it will be tough, and we will need to dig in at times. They will have a point to prove with their result.”