Northern Ireland’s bid to reach a second consecutive European Championships will be settled on Thursday night in their Euro 2020 qualifying play-off final against Slovakia. Here, the PA news agency takes a closer look at Northern Ireland’s opponents. Route to the finalThe Republic of Ireland lost to Slovakia on penalties last month (Martin Baumann/PA)Last month’s penalty shoot-out victory over the Republic of Ireland was notable in that, for 120 minutes, Slovakia managed not to concede. FormScotland beat Slovakia 1-0 in the Nations League last month (Steve Walsh/PA)FIFA’s world rankings currently shows Slovakia four places above Northern Ireland in 37th place in the world, but there is still a sense they travel to Belfast as second-favourites. They have picked up only one point in their Nations League campaign to date, with Scotland their next opponents on Sunday.

Source: Express November 11, 2020 11:15 UTC