Northern Ireland vs Lithuania

Northern Ireland and Lithuania are set to square off at Windsor Park in a World Cup qualifying encounter that won’t impact their qualification hopes.

Northern Ireland’s wait for their first World Cup finals appearance since 1986 will stretch for another four years following their lackluster 2022 qualifying campaign (W1, D2, L3). The ‘Norn Iron’ have followed up a 4-1 thrashing of Lithuania in the reverse fixture with three consecutive World Cup qualifying matches without a win (D1, L2), drawing a blank twice in that period. With nothing but pride left to play for in Belfast, Northern Ireland will be under no pressure to extend their unbeaten H2H record (W2, D1). However, that would be more than welcome in psychological terms, as the ‘Green and White Army’ have failed to win any of their three home internationals this calendar year (D2, L1), drawing a blank in the last two in a row.

Meanwhile, Lithuania may still avoid finishing bottom of Group C despite losing five of their six 2022 World Cup qualifying matches to date (W1). A victory in Belfast would see them leapfrog their hosts in what is their ultimate qualifying fixture in this cycle. A 4-0 thumping at the hands of Switzerland last time out took Lithuania’s tally to 18 goals conceded in the ongoing World Cup qualifying campaign, with only six teams letting in more goals than them so far. It goes from bad to worse for the visitors, considering they’ve only ever won six World Cup qualifiers on foreign soil as an independent country, spanning back to 1937. In turn, the ‘Rinktine’ have lost their last six internationals away from home, failing to find the net five times in the process.

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