Tears as poison pen in Belfast proves fatal to World Cup bid

Northern Ireland are still to qualify for the World Cup finals since the 1986 edition in Mexico. Meanwhile, Switzerland have reached their fourth successive World Cup finals. 2018 will be the first time they have featured in four straight tournaments since between 1934 and 1954.

Despite finishing goalless, there were more than four times as many shots on target in this game (9) as there were in the first leg at Windsor Park (2). Including the play-off games played so far, only Christian Eriksen (38) has created more chances in this European qualifying campaign than Xherdan Shaqiri (34). This was the first time Switzerland failed to win a competitive home game since September 2014, when they lost 2-0 against England.