Northern Ireland marked their return to Nations League B with a 1-0 win over Georgia in Tbilisi.
Shea Charles’ 98th-minute winner gave Michael O’Neill’s side a first ever win at this level of the competition with the midfielder poking home past Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.
The late goal came only after Charles’ younger brother Pierce had saved Paris St-Germain star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s second-half penalty.
The Queen’s Park Rangers loanee also denied Otar Kiteishvili and Georges Mikautadze with second-half saves to preserve what was Northern Ireland’s first competitive clean sheet since October 2024.
The visitors were playing at this level of the competition for the first time in six years after 2024 promotion from League C in a game that Uefa ordered to be played behind closed doors after crowd trouble at Georgia’s home fixture with Armenia in March 2025.
However, it was then decided that around 60 Northern Ireland fans who had booked tickets before the announcement of the sanctions were to be admitted. Then it was said that thousands of Georgian schoolchildren could also attend.
If that made for a strange atmosphere at the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, the game certainly got off to a slow start.
Northern Ireland were marginally the better side in the first half and Shea Charles felt he should have done better with a header put wide from an Isaac Price cross.
The closest either side came in the opening 45 minutes, however, was when Giorgi Kvernadze’s header was cleared off the line by Trai Hume.
Georgia lifted the tempo considerably to start a much-improved second half and eight minutes after the restart Pierce Charles made a fantastic save after half-time replacement Giorgi Chakvetadze picked out Mikautadze unmarked in the box.
And the Northern Ireland goalkeeper was to the fore again 10 minutes later when, the video assistant referee (VAR) judged Daniel Ballard had pulled Luka Lochoshvili’s shirt in the box.
This time the 21-year-old dived low to his left to parry away Kvaratskhelia’s poor penalty.
Opposing goalkeeper Mamardashvili made a smart stop himself to deny Shea Charles from close range in the 75th minute, while the Northern Ireland midfielder dragged another effort wide with five minutes to go.
It was a case of fourth time lucky for the Fulham midfielder who, having always looked his side’s most dangerous player, found the net already well beyond the signalled six minutes of added time.
A wait for another VAR check only added to the late drama as Northern Ireland made the best possible start to this four-game window.
O’Neill’s side are next in action back in Belfast against Hungary on Monday night (19:45 BST).