Northern Ireland 2-0 Slovakia: Was World Cup qualifying win NI’s best under Michael O’Neill?

O’Neill was delighted with the performance of his young side in Belfast, who have made a superb start to qualifying.

A win in Luxembourg was followed by an hour of matching European heavyweights Germany, who eventually prevailed to win 3-1.

Friday’s win was superb from first minute to last, and a Patrik Hrosovsky own goal had broken the deadlock before Hume’s superb effort with 10 minutes left – but was it the best under O’Neill?

“I don’t really look at games like that because teams evolve,” O’Neill said when asked if it was the most complete performance since his return in 2023.

“The team when I came back in is very different to the team now. They have given other good performances, like at home here to Bulgaria when we were excellent.

“I think tonight was a team of a higher calibre as well, so you can say it is one of the best performances we’ve had, but I still think there is more in the tank, and I think the players believe that as well.”

O’Neill was also full of praise for Hume, who has moved up the leagues with Sunderland and is now a Premier League regular.

The defender’s goal had come after the in-form David Strelec had poked an effort wide. In the past, when there felt like an inevitability that the opposition would hit back, Hume’s effort changed that narrative.

“We deserved to be more than one goal ahead with how the game had gone, but we needed that second goal,” said O’Neill.

“Slovakia are a good team and are very experienced at international level, and it only takes a moment.

“They did have that chance and they missed it. As a young team you can lose confidence and momentum in that situation, but when the second goal went in – and it was a great finish – it was great for him as he’s such an important player for us.”