(L-R) Marc Diederich, FLF Jurist; Jeff Strasser, Head Coach of Luxembourg men’s national football team; Laurent Jans, Luxembourg men’s national football team captain;
Credit: Ievgenii Karanov, Chronicle.lu
On Wednesday 3 September 2025, Luxembourg’s national football team held media activities ahead of their opening FIFA 2026 World Cup qualification match against Northern Ireland, scheduled to take place at the Stade de Luxembourg on Thursday 4 September 2025.
At the pre-match press conference, Red Lions head coach Jeff Strasser was joined by team captain Laurent Jans, with the pair spending around half an hour answering questions from both local and visiting journalists.
Coach Strasser confirmed that midfielder Christopher Martins will not be available for the match, having also missed his last two games with Spartak Moscow. He acknowledged that Martins is “one of the key players who are difficult to replace” but stressed the need to focus on solutions. To compensate for his absence, Enzo Duarte joined the national squad earlier in the week. Strasser also noted that Marvin Martins and Mika Pinto are fit to play, even if they have had limited club minutes recently, and underlined the strong motivation in the group since his appointment: “When a new coach comes in, every player has a new opportunity. The atmosphere in the squad is very positive.”
Looking ahead, the coach described Luxembourg as outsiders in a very strong qualification group and emphasised the importance of responding to Northern Ireland’s intensity: “It will be a very high-intensity game against an opponent that puts a lot of energy into every duel. If you are not ready from the first minute, you have no chance.” He explained that his staff had analysed the last four or five games of Northern Ireland, as well as the recent head-to-head encounters, to prepare as thoroughly as possible.
The two teams are set to meet for the seventh time in their history. Northern Ireland have won on three occasions, Luxembourg once, whilst two matches ended in draws. Most recently, the sides faced each other in the 2024/2025 UEFA Nations League group stage: Northern Ireland secured a 2-0 home victory in Belfast and held the same lead at the Stade de Luxembourg in November 2024, before Luc Holtz’s team fought back to earn a 2-2 draw.
Reflecting on that result, captain Laurent Jans noted: “It was a really tough match, you could feel the pressure from the first minute and the intensity in the duels was very high. We have to be fully prepared, otherwise we have no chance against such an opponent.” He added: “We took confidence from the two late goals in November. Northern Ireland had already secured first place, but we showed we can come back into the game. Against them, we need to be strong defensively and keep a clean sheet for as long as possible.” Jans also highlighted the quality of individual players in the Northern Ireland squad, pointing in particular to Liverpool’s Conor Bradley as an example of their top-level talent.
According to the Northern Ireland Football Association, head coach Michael O’Neill will be without goalkeeper Pierce Charles, who played the full 90 minutes in the previous match against the Red Lions, as well as key defenders Brodie Spencer and Daniel Ballard - the latter having scored against Luxembourg in the Nations League fixture in Belfast.
Luxembourg will face Northern Ireland on Thursday 4 September 2025, with kick-off at 20:45 at the Stade de Luxembourg.
