Russia 1-0 Northern Ireland
Date Played – September 1971
A very strong Russian side met Northern Ireland in front of a packed crowd of 100,000 and they all came to see if George Best was as fantastic as many claimed he was. In the event of the match, Oleg Dolmatov marked George Best out of the match and the Russians went on to win the tie 1-0, Muntjan sent the Northern Ireland goal keeper, McFaul the wrong way with a 39th minute penalty kick.

Sweden 0 – 2 Northern Ireland
Date Played – October 1974
Northern Ireland knew that they had to earn something in Sweden to keep their hopes alive of qualification for the 1976 European Championships. They dominated most of the match with a brilliant fine display as Pat Jennings also made a few fine saves, Northern Ireland scored twice with goals coming from Chris Nicholl and Martin O’Neill. The Irish were now top of the group with two matches played.