Image Credits: Imago Images
The defeat means Northern Ireland miss out on an automatic spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Northern Ireland fell to a damaging defeat to Slovakia last night, but they came away from the loss still assured of a play-off place due to them winning their Nations League group.
Slovakia’s Tomas Bobcek had only been on the pitch a matter of minutes before steering home the winner in the 91st minute for the home side.
The result means that Northern Ireland will finish third in Group A behind Germany and Slovakia, regardless of the result they get against Luxembourg on Monday night.
It was a frustrating night for Conor Bradley and co. as Belfast Live described the defeat as a “hammer blow” for Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland were given a glimmer of hope during the last international break, as their impressive 2-0 win over Slovakia in the return fixture gave them a World Cup boost but this defeat means they now face an uphill battle to appear in next summer’s tournament.
Conor Bradley did play the full ninety minutes but was unable to help his side break down a resilient Slovakia side and Northern Ireland’s misery was deepened deep in to injury time as Daniel Ballard was shown his second yellow card of the game after pushing Lobotka.
Slovakia had two goals ruled out by VAR before their eventual winner, which had a controversial moment in the build-up as Ballard was sent tumbling to the floor.
It was simply a night where things did not go the way of O’Neill’s side as the manager directed blame towards the officials following the match.
He said: “The third goal should’ve been disallowed. It’s clearly a foul on Daniel.”
“That’s what VAR is there for. The first goal is offside, clearly the lines are drawn showing that it’s offside. The second goal is a handball, so clearly that’s a clear decision.”
“The last one is a decision that the referee has to make. In any other situation, he’ll give that decision.”
“It’s a foul, it isn’t given and the goal stands, and the yellow card for Daniel [at the end] is just a joke.”
“Ultimately we feel like we’ve been beaten by a goal that shouldn’t have stood.”
Northern Ireland were missing four players from the team that started against Germany last month, and the visitors battled hard for ninety minutes but came up just short.
They will be hoping they are successful in the play-offs and make it to their first World Cup since 1986.
That would be some achievement for Northern Ireland captain and Liverpool full-back, Conor Bradley.
“We feel we were beaten by a goal that shouldn’t have stood” 🗣
Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill speaking after his side’s defeat to Slovakia ⚽#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/l53U2u1Uv6
— BBC SPORT NI (@BBCSPORTNI) November 14, 2025
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