{"id":401847,"date":"2025-09-06T05:31:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T05:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/401847\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T05:31:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T05:31:19","slug":"germany-vs-northern-ireland-weve-already-applied-for-our-estas-for-the-world-cup-travelling-fans-share-buzz-ahead-of-qualifying-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/401847\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany vs Northern Ireland: \u2018We\u2019ve already applied for our ESTAs for the World Cup\u2019: Travelling fans share \u2018buzz\u2019 ahead of qualifying game"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Germany\u2019s shock 2-0 loss to Slovakia, things are up in the air \u2014 Northern Ireland were probably counting on securing the second spot of Group A, but now that Slovakia have gained points against the four-time World Cup winners, there\u2019s pressure on Michael O\u2019Neill\u2019s men to beat the \u2018Deutschen\u2019 as well.<\/p>\n

Vitally, they have positive momentum, something their upcoming opponents are lacking.<\/p>\n

Stewart Cherry (42), originally from Kilkeel, has lived in New York City for the past decade, so literally every home game for Northern Ireland is an away game for him, yet he still makes around four per year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very cautiously optimistic that we can finish second,\u201d Stewart said during a stopover with his dad in the Belgian city of Liege on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo much of this is about momentum and belief, and I feel that the [Luxembourg] win gives us both.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll go into the Germany game, and there\u2019s nothing to lose. It is a bit of a free shot against Germany. But I think with belief and the momentum, that\u2019ll really help.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last time we qualified for major finals, we won away in the first game away to Hungary. So I\u2019m looking for as many good omens as we possibly an.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Father<\/p>\n

Father and son duo Stephen and Stewart Cherry<\/p>\n

After nearly missing his chance to even get to Luxembourg for the first game this week, he\u2019s hoping all the stress will have been worth it once the weekend is over.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was going to do a day flight to London, get to London and then the next morning I was flying to Luxembourg. But I flew four hours on Monday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as we were about to cross the Atlantic, the pilot said there was a mechanical issue, so we then had to fly four hours back to JFK. And then I had to switch planes, get on another plane to fly overnight to make it to London.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I made the connecting flight with about five minutes to spare. That\u2019s been the most stressful trip that I\u2019ve had.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/p>\n

Northern Ireland fans enjoying the buzz in Luxembourg <\/p>\n

With the 2026 World Cup to take place across the USA and Canada next year, he hopes more than ever that NI can secure their spot in the tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cI live about 10 miles from the MetLife Stadium, which is where the World Cup final is next year, so if Northern Ireland were to come to North America it would make life a lot simpler for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also have the New York Northern Ireland Supporters Club, and three of the members were at the Luxembourg game and will be in Cologne on Sunday, which is really good.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a bar called Legends near the Empire State Building as well that we always go to watch matches in, and it\u2019s been so good in keeping people from home connected.\u201d <\/p>\n

Hundreds travelled via train and bus from Luxembourg to Cologne on Friday following Thursday\u2019s win, while plenty more have been making the trip from Irish airports for Sunday\u2019s game alone.<\/p>\n

Phil Bartlett (44) probably never would have thought of visiting Luxembourg if it were not for international football.<\/p>\n

\"Phil<\/p>\n

Phil Bartlett (holding Penguin Tilman) wih Conrad Kirkwood, President of the IFA <\/p>\n

This week marked his fourth trip to the country, though he admitted he wouldn\u2019t likely have visited at all without the lure of he game.<\/p>\n

Now, he and his friends even have a favourite bar in the capital city, which has a stuffed penguin they deem to be their Northern Ireland mascot \u2014 Penguin Tilman.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you pick a European city, or you pick a country, there\u2019s so many of them that I would never have been to if it wasn\u2019t for football,\u201d said the Comber native.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always great fun with the fans in and around the area. We always just get our colours on and go out and enjoy ourselves. We always do.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a youth football coach himself now with Ards FC, Phil has started to recognise supporters that he has seen for the last 20 years travelling to Northern Ireland matches, now bringing their own kids down to train.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a good community,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Jayne and Gary Gray have also managed to see so many parts of the world that they never would have if it weren\u2019t for Northern Ireland \u2014 with San Marino their favourite spot to date.<\/p>\n

\"Gary<\/p>\n

Gary and Jayne Gray with Peter Downes, a friend they have met through travelling to NI games<\/p>\n

Gary has been supporting his country\u2019s team since he was 14.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Jayne added: \u201cI can\u2019t tell you what age he is now, but he\u2019s got his bus pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019ve missed any matches now \u2014 home and away \u2014 in the past five years, maybe longer,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n

The Coleraine couple say that no matter the results, \u201cthere is always good craic\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the Northern Ireland fans, all they want to do is sing songs in the square, and drink loads of beer and have a laugh,\u201d said Jayne.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s never any bother or any malice. We do all the home games as well, even though some of them are on a Monday night and we have to go to work the next morning.\u201d <\/p>\n

She described the buzz of Thursday night\u2019s game as \u201celectric,\u201d despite having to wake up early for the 8.30am train to Cologne the next morning.<\/p>\n

Gary predicts a 1-1 draw on Sunday, with Isaac Price scoring for Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

Regardless, Jayne says the team have to qualify for the World Cup, as they\u2019ve both already applied for their ESTAs \u2014 the travel authorisation needed to get into the USA \u2014 ahead of next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not booking any holidays, we\u2019re just living in hope,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re saving ourselves for June, July and August next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have friends out in Vancouver, but we\u2019ve already been talking to some of the GAWA and we thought, between us, why don\u2019t we just hire an RV?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe boys could do the driving and the girls could do the drinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked to describe the chances of qualifying in one word each \u2014 Gary said \u201cfair\u201d, while Jayne said \u201cglorious\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With Germany\u2019s shock 2-0 loss to Slovakia, things are up in the air \u2014 Northern Ireland were probably…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[5825,1144,16,15,1514],"class_list":{"0":"post-401847","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-niamh-campbell","9":"tag-northern-ireland","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-world-cup"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}