It does after the head to head though and vs third place in other groups

It goes on head-to-head between all three teams, and they'd all have one win and one loss. So NI would have the advantage of a +1 goal difference over the games in question.

Or does it mean head to head by dropping the results against Germany

Yes, that's what I'm saying.

"If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following tie-breaking criteria will be applied:
- points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
- goal difference resulting from the matches played between the teams in question"

So the initial tiebreaker is to ignore the results against Germany and just look at the results among the three tied teams. So the fact that NI won by more than one goal, while only losing by one goal, could give them the edge.

Basically if Germany beat n Ireland and Ukraine win against Poland then all 3 are placed into a mini group to decide who finished third based on goal difference etc

How that works to decide 3rd I have no idea but should be interesting

One thing I would say about oor great wee team is that we need to get rid of God Save the Queen as our anthem. It is inappropriate, mainly because God Save the Wee Queen is Englands anthem, and should be theirs alone. I vote for Danny Boy (to keep the Fenians happy (and I am one of them but I support NI over ROI) / The Londonderry Air (to keep the Loyalists happy).

Just dont let Barry McGuigan's Da sing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHxrDcAjf60

Fast forward to 2.40 to explain the Da McGuigan gag.

In the south of France they have a sudden windy thing called the Mistral, which is an extreme weather condition which comes and goes as quickly as a UKIP leaders resignation.

We're not Brazil...

we're Norn Iron!

Evans was heroic, perhaps even better than he was away to Portugal. Delighted to see McGinn come on and get a goal as he offers something a bit different. Washington has impressed me every time he has pulled on the shirt and fully justified his selection.

What was that Ray Wilkins was saying about us not getting a point?

Here is the order for separating teams on equal points


a. higher number of points obtained in the matches played among the teams in
question;
b. superior goal difference resulting from the matches played among the teams in question;
c. higher number of goals scored in the matches played among the teams in question;
d. if, after having applied criteria a) to c), teams still have an equal ranking, criteria a) to c) are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria e) to h) apply;
e. superior goal difference in all group matches;
f. higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
g. fair play conduct in the final tournament as defined in Annex C.5.1;
h. position in the UEFA national team coefficient rankings (see Annex B.1.2.b).
Last edited by panixs : 16-06-2016 at 21:22

I remember being massively confused by part (d) the first time I read it. Because, if the teams are equal after applying criteria (a) to (c) (which we already applied to "the teams in question"), what is the point of applying the criteria again?

What it means is "if, after having applied criteria a) to c), some teams still have an equal ranking, criteria a) to c) are reapplied to the matches between those teams only"

Because it is possible that the first application of (a) to (c) will remove one or more teams from the tiebreak situation.

Exactly it wouldn't be a UEFA document without at least one confusing sentence.

RIP to the Northern Island fan who died at the game today, heart attack

Condolences to all his family and friends.

Jeez, that's terrible. A second tragedy for a Northern Ireland fan and their family this tournament,

That is terrible to read about, two unnecessary deaths in a single day, my heart goes out to his family, who just thought he was going to a football match.

How come your team are not playing the Northern Ireland anthem before games

There isn't one. GSTQ is our official anthem and was chosen at the time the state was created as it was seen to affirm the country's identity as British. It was also a great bit of propaganda for Nationalists for exactly the same reason.

100 years on and not much has really changed. Loyalists don't want it changed and Republicans don't either but for different reasons, as it legitimises the NI state.

Of course the IFA could choose a different anthem if they wanted but with the political situation as it is they'd rather not play politics and so passed the buck to Stormont, who promptly passed it back to the IFA.

TL;dr version - GSTQ is our anthem and for better or worse that is highly unlikely to change anytime soon.

I dont wanna get controversial, but here goes. GSTQ is the official national anthem for Ulster. I am speaking for myself now, not as a Nationalist, but someone who sees us sharing an anthem with England, as being a little silly, as Ulster / Northern Ireland / Six Counties (take your pick) is a very different place from England. I know this, as I have lived in both regions.

What Ulster needs is an anthem which gets away from a potential source of conflict and unfortunately, GSTQ does provoke some strong emotions on both sides, and I think that Ulster needs to get away from these strong emotions as much as possible, because there is too much hatred over there.

Danny Boy / Londonderry Air has been proposed by a few people as being a choon which could stir Ulster people up, but in a way that does not divide them, and I think that it would be a great anthem for the little country. It may also encourage more Catholic people to support the NI team, as to be honest, NI is the country / province where they were born and Ulster Catholics have more in common with Ulster Protestants than they do with Republic of Ireland Catholics.

It is a sad fact that the NI football team is supported more by the Protestant people, whereas Catholic people tend to go with the Republic team. I would like to see this change.

I also think that the two religions should be educated together from as early an age, as possible, but we need to be aware that the Catholic church in Ulster prefers Catholic children to be educated in a catholic system.

As the other poster has said, at the moment, there is no appetite to change the football anthem away from GSTQ, but I, personally, would like to see it changed to one which can unite both religions to get behind the NI team.

Hopefully, this will change in the nearer, rather than the far future, for the good of NI as it stands.

Did it ever come out exactly what happened regarding the first attempt to bring Paddy McNair on?