Northern Ireland 2-0 Slovakia: Was World Cup qualifying win NI’s best under Michael O’Neill?

O’Neill was pleased with the performance of his young team in Belfast, who made a great start to qualifying.

The victory in Luxembourg was followed by a one-hour clash with European heavyweights Germany, which Germany eventually managed to win 3-1.

Friday’s win was superb from the first minute to the last, with Patrik Hrosovsky’s own goal breaking the deadlock with 10 minutes remaining, thanks to Hume’s superb effort – but was it the best under O’Neill?

“I don’t really look at those types of games because teams are improving,” O’Neill said when asked if this was his most complete performance since his return in 2023.

“The team I came back to is very different to the current team. They have had other good performances at home, like when we were excellent in Bulgaria.

“I think it was a higher caliber team tonight too, so you could say it was one of the best performances we’ve had, but I still think there’s more in the tank and I think the players believe that too.”

O’Neill was also full of praise for Hume, who rose through the leagues with Sunderland and is now a regular in the Premier League.

The defender’s goal came after the in-form David Strelec had cleared the ball. Where in the past it had been felt that opposition retaliation was inevitable, Hume’s effort changed this narrative.

“The way the game was going we deserved to be more than one goal up but we needed the second goal,” O’Neill said.

“Slovakia are a good team and very experienced at international level and it only takes a few minutes.

“They had that chance and they missed it. As a young team you can lose confidence and momentum in that situation, but when the second goal came – and it was a great finish – it was great for him as he is such an important player for us.”