Justin Devenny and Shea Charles find net as Northern Ireland win in Luxembourg | OneFootball

Justin Devenny and Shea Charles scored their first international goals as Northern Ireland opened their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 3-1 win in Luxembourg.

An early Jamie Reid strike was cancelled out by Aiman Dardari but Charles struck less than 30 seconds into the second half, and after Luxembourg defender Seid Korac was shown a second yellow card, Devenny’s 69th-minute strike secured Northern Ireland’s first competitive away win since March 2023.

It earned three points an injury-hit Northern Ireland team knew they needed to secure ahead of Sunday’s trip to Cologne to face Germany – beaten 2-0 by Slovakia in the other Group A fixture – and one that came only 10 months after they blew a 2-0 lead in this stadium to draw 2-2 in the Nations League.

Michael O’Neill’s side came bursting out of the traps. Two minutes in, Conor Bradley won the ball and darted towards goal. Though he ran into traffic the ball sat up for Ali McCann to strike at Anthony Moris.

Three minutes later, Korac slipped in the box and the ball fell for Reid, denied by a good save from Moris. Play continued, but referee Andris Treimanis was told to check the screen by VAR Kristas Ratnieks as Korac handled after slipping.

Moris made his third save of the game to keep out Isaac Price’s penalty but Reid pounced on the rebound for his first competitive international goal.

That early promise rapidly disappeared and the frustration of O’Neill, soaked through by incessant rain, was obvious as his side kept conceding possession, though the hosts – under new management with Jeff Strasser 17 days into the job – did not threaten until the 27th minute.

Bailey Peacock-Farrell, making his first Northern Ireland appearance in a year in the absence of Pierce Charles and Conor Hazard, got down smartly to claw away Mathias Olesen’s header.

It was a warning Northern Ireland did not not heed and moments later Luxembourg were level. Daniel Sinani’s neat flick released Dardari, who skipped beyond Paddy McNair as he cut in from the left to hit a low shot beyond Peacock-Farrell.

Northern Ireland could not find any rhythm, but went close in first-half stoppage time when Devenny’s free-kick clipped the top of the crossbar after Sinani fouled Hume.

Given his first-half demeanour O’Neill no doubt let his players hear it at half-time, and they responded immediately after the restart.

Bradley’s low cross deflected out to Charles and the Southampton midfielder’s strike took a nick off the hapless Korac on its way in.

Again Northern Ireland struggled to build on the early goal, and just after the hour Dardari threatened once more, spinning neatly on the left and cutting in to strike a low shot that was blocked by Hume.

It was Luxembourg’s last hope as Korac saw red moments later. Having been booked in the aftermath of the early penalty decision, the Venezia defender tangled with Reid as they contested a high ball. Reid went down holding his face, but a second yellow card looked harsh.

Northern Ireland did not care, and after Charles pumped forward the resulting free-kick, it fell to Devenny to lash home from close range.