Luxembourg U21s 0-0 Northern Ireland U21s: Tommy Wright’s side held to drab draw

Northern Ireland Under-21s rounded off their Euro 2025 qualifying campaign with a drab 0-0 draw against Luxembourg at the Emile Mayrisch Stadium.

Tommy Wright’s side, who went into the game knowing they were already out of contention for qualifying for next year’s tournament in Slovakia, finished fourth in Group F.

England won the group to progress automatically while Ukraine finished second to book a play-off place.

Serbia claimed third place, finishing five points ahead of Northern Ireland, who ended the campaign with 11 points.

Wright’s side went into the game off the back of a morale boosting 5-0 victory against Azerbaijan on Saturday.

In what was a low-key first half, Northern Ireland created the better chances with Dale Taylor twice forcing goalkeeper Eldin Latik into saves.

Their best opportunity at breaking the deadlock came from Linfield’s Charlie Allen, who hit the crossbar on 20 minutes with an effort from range.

They continued to probe for the second goal after the break with Allen forcing Latik into another stop soon after the restart.

The midfielder’s evening would come to an end on 72 minutes however, as he received a second yellow card, forcing Northern Ireland to play the remainder of the game with 10 men.

Substitute Makenzie Kirk had a late shot saved by the busy Latik as Northern Ireland failed to find the breakthrough.