Northern Ireland vs Slovakia Prediction and Betting Tips | October 10th 2025

Northern Ireland and Slovakia are back in action in Group A of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers as they square off at Windsor Park on Friday. The Falcons head into the weekend unbeaten in their last four games against the hosts since September 2008 and will be looking to extend this impressive streak.

Northern Ireland were outplayed and outclassed by Germany last time out as they fell to a 3-1 defeat when the two nations squared off at the RheinEnergieStadion.

Before that, Michael O'Neill’s side kicked off their qualifying journey with an impressive 3-1 victory over Luxembourg, thanks to strikes from Jamie Reid, Shea Charles and Justin Devenny.

Having played their opening two games on the road, Northern Ireland now return to home soil, where they are unbeaten in their last seven games (6W, 1D) since a 1-0 loss against Slovenia in October 2023.

Meanwhile, Stoke City midfielder Tomas Rigo came up clutch for Slovakia last time out as he netted in the 90th minute to hand them a 1-0 victory over Luxembourg at the Luxembourg Arena.

This came after their impressive opening day victory over Germany on September 4, when David Hancko and David Strelec hit the target to put Julian Nagelsmann’s men to the sword in a 2-0 win.

Slovakia currently lead the way at the top of the Group A standings with six points, three points and one place above this weekend’s hosts, who are level with Germany but sit second due to a superior goal difference.

Northern Ireland vs Slovakia Head-To-Head and Key Numbers

• With three wins from the last five meetings between the sides, Slovakia boasts the upper hand in the history of this fixture.
• Northern Ireland have picked up just one win in that time, which came in their very first encounter back in March 1998, when they beat the Falcons 1-0 in a friendly fixture, while the spoils have been shared once.
• Northern Ireland are unbeaten in five of their last six competitive matches, picking up three wins and two draws since October 2024.
• Slovakia have lost just two of their most recent 10 competitive games while picking up six wins and two draws since September 2024.

Northern Ireland vs Slovakia Prediction

Slovakia have picked up two impressive victories to start the campaign and will travel to Windsor Park in high spirits. However, Northern Ireland have been tough to crack on home soil, where they are unbeaten in their last seven games, and we predict they will hold out for a share of the spoils.

Prediction: Northern Ireland 1-1 Slovakia

Northern Ireland vs Slovakia Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result - Draw

Tip 2: Over 4.5 cards - No (There have been fewer than five bookings in four of Northern Ireland’s last five matches)

Tip 3: Both sides to score - Yes (Both sides have also scored in six of Northern Ireland’s last seven games)

Edited by Nived Zenith