Northern Ireland played against the most familiar team Switzerland in the World Cup Qualifying UEFA Playoff round on November 9. The venue of the match was at Windsor Park. These two sides have met each other for only one time in an International Friendly match before that held on 2004 which ended in a draw.
Northern Ireland will face an major struggle to reach a first World Cup since 1986 after losing to Switzerland in dramatic circumstances in the first leg of their play-off at Windsor Park. The Irish were in great anguish with Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan’s decision to award Switzerland a penalty for handball when Xherdan Shaqiri’s shot struck Corry Evans’ shoulder. Ricardo Rodriguez scored with a penalty just before the hour mark after Corry Evans was deemed to have handled inside the area.
