Northern Ireland relegated from Nations League Group B1 to League C as UEFA award Romania win over Norway

Northern Ireland’s relegation in the Nations League has been confirmed with Romania awarded a 3-0 victory over Norway by UEFA.

European football’s governing body announced the decision concerning last Sunday’s cancelled match a little over three hours before Norn Iron host Romania at Windsor Park in their final Group B1 game.

Ian Baraclough’s side are left six points adrift at the foot of the table following UEFA’s decision and will be relegated to League C once the Nations League campaign ends.

Norway were unable to travel for their match in Bucharest after being denied government permission due to a positive test for coronavirus within their camp.

In a statement, UEFA said the chair of its Appeals Body had issued the following decision.

“To declare the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League match between Romania and Norway, that was scheduled to be played on 15 November 2020, as forfeited by the Norwegian Football Association (who is therefore deemed to have lost the match 3-0) for being responsible for the match not taking place (as provided for in Circular Letter No. 66/2020 establishing the special rules applicable to the league phase of the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League).”

Northern Ireland have taken only one point from their five games in the group to date – a 1-1 draw with Romania in Bucharest in September.

Last Sunday, they conceded twice in the last 10 minutes to lose 2-1 to Austria in Vienna.