Northern Ireland VS Switzerland Soccer Picks FIFA UEFA

Northern Ireland finished their group with two consecutive loses against Germany with 1-3 at home and against Norway with 0-1 away at home. But even with these defeats finished second in the final table with 19 points or 4 over Czech Republic and 6 over Norway. Northern Ireland showed strong performance with 6-1-3 balance, while at home lost only against Germany with 1-3, while in all other matches even didn't concede a goal after 4-0 over San Marino, 4-0 over Azerbaijan, 2-0 over Norway and 2-0 over Czech Republic, so their performance at Windsor Park is just amazing. The team was on European Cup in summer of 2016 for first time in their history and now are close to qualify for World Cup finals for first time, so their motivation now is just huge.

 

Switzerland made an amazing performance in the qualifications, but finished second in final table. They won first 9 matches in the group, but in the last one in direct game for first place lost against Portugal with 0-2. So they finished with 27 points, but missed direct promotion - that's the only team in history with 9 wins in 10 games, which not qualify directly and now will have to play on playoffs. Away at home the team is strong with only 1 defeat in the last 18 months, which came against Portugal, while in all other matches made 6 wins and draw.

 

After all, both teams made strong performance in these qualifications and deserve a place on World Cup, but only one of them will qualify. Northern Ireland are strong at home with 4 wins and 4 clean sheets in 5 games, while Switzerland lost only 1 from last 8 trips, so here I expect a tight game and under.