Substitute Kyle Lafferty then nearly won it for Northern Ireland when his long-range effort hit the post in the 90th minute. The win takes Slovakia though to their second consecutive Euro finals and prevents Northern Ireland from repeating their feat from four years ago. Northern Ireland, backed by a 1,060 crowd that generated a good atmosphere despite being so low in numbers, had been aiming to do just that and reach what would have been a fifth major international tournament appearance. After the joy of Euro 2016 in France, Northern Ireland had given themselves the opportunity to qualify again by beating Bosnia & Herzegovina on penalties in the play-off semi-final in October. Despite the euphoria of the shootout win in Bosnia, Northern Ireland have now failed to win during 90 minutes of any of Baraclough's first six games in charge, and have fallen behind in each one of them.

Source: BBC November 11, 2020 16:57 UTC