Northern Ireland host Luxembourg at Windsor Park on Monday evening in their final Group A fixture of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers.Northern Ireland’s hopes of automatic qualification ended with a heartbreaking stoppage-time defeat to Slovakia on Friday. However, Michael O’Neill’s side have already secured a play-off place in March courtesy of their Nations League performance.Northern Ireland vs Luxembourg – Match preview and team newsDate: Monday, 17th November.Kick-off: 7:45pm BST.Venue: Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park.Northern Ireland team newsNorthern Ireland will be without suspended duo Daniel Ballard and George Saville for Monday’s encounter. Saville received a second yellow card in the dying moments of the 1-0 defeat in Slovakia, while Ballard was shown the yellow card in the first half. Ciaron Brown is expected to come into the defence to replace Ballard, partnering Paddy McNair and Ruairi McConville in a three-man backline.The hosts also face a significant injury crisis in midfield. Shea Charles has been ruled out with a hamstring injury that will keep him sidelined until next month. Ali McCann is also unavailable, currently nursing a broken arm. Brodie Spencer completes the absentee list with a foot injury.Barnsley midfielder Patrick Kelly has received his first senior call-up and is the only new face in the Northern Ireland manager’s squad. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Luxembourg team newsLuxembourg will be without left-back Florian Bohnert, who picked up his second yellow card of qualifying in the 2-0 defeat to Germany on Friday.Danel Sinani and Aiman Dardari will shoulder the goalscoring burden in Belfast. Dardari scored Luxembourg’s only goal of the qualifying campaign against Northern Ireland in September.Goalkeeper Anthony Moris will start between the posts, with head coach Jeff Strasser looking to restore some pride after a difficult campaign.FormNorthern IrelandMichael O’Neill’s side have endured a frustrating conclusion to their qualifying campaign despite some encouraging performances. The late defeat in Slovakia was particularly cruel, with Tomas Bobcek’s stoppage-time goal ending their hopes of making it out of Group A automatically.However, Northern Ireland showed their quality with a superb 2-0 victory over Slovakia at Windsor Park in October. Trai Hume scored his first international goal with a stunning volley to seal the points after Patrik Hrosovsky’s own goal had given them the lead. That win demonstrated the progress under O’Neill, with the side competing strongly throughout the campaign. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});LuxembourgJeff Strasser’s side have lost all five of their Group A qualifiers, conceding 12 goals while scoring just once. The Red Lions have failed to find the net in their last four matches, a concerning run for a side that won five games during Euro 2024 qualifying.Their most recent outing saw them lose 2-0 to Germany in Luxembourg, with Nick Woltemade scoring both goals for the visitors. While the scoreline was more respectable than their 4-0 defeat in the reverse fixture, Luxembourg remain rooted to the bottom of the group on zero points.Predicted lineupsNorthern Ireland: Peacock-Farrell; McConville, Brown, McNair; Hume, Bradley, Kelly, Devenny; Lyons, Charles, Price.Luxembourg: Moris; Jans, Korac, Carlson, Veiga; O Thill, Martins, Olesen, Barreiro; Sinani, Dardari. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});How to watch Northern Ireland vs Luxembourg?UK fans can watch the game on BBC Three and BBC Two Northern Ireland. The match will also be available to stream live on BBC iPlayer.Read Also – ‘Behaviour is key’: Tuchel issues firm message to ‘Unhappy’ Real Madrid starSee More – Kane double seals perfect qualifying campaign for EnglandFollow the Football Faithful on Social Media:Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube The post Northern Ireland vs Luxembourg – Match preview and team news first appeared on The Football Faithful.