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Although O’Neill resigned in April 2020 to take charge of Stoke, his absence lasted only 28 internationals and he returned to the post in December 2022.

The group to which he returned, however, was radically different to the one he left.

Injury ended the international careers of Steven Davis and Dallas earlier than expected, while the retirements of Jonny Evans and Craig Cathcart robbed the group of yet more experienced campaigners.

Leading such a young group presented a different challenge to his first spell, but the impact of O’Neill’s previous time in charge still counted in his favour.

“You saw the success that he had before and he’s a massive name back home,” said Liverpool’s Conor Bradley who has been given a leadership role in the team by O’Neill.

“He’s a special manager. He gives you confidence going into games, and it’s a big part of management to be able to do that, but tactically as well he’s top notch.”

Bingham gave O’Neill his international debut in February 1988 when he was still just 18-years-old and only four months after Newcastle United had signed him from Irish League side Coleraine.

With his new-look Northern Ireland side built around young talents like Bradley, Isaac Price, Shea Charles and Justin Devenny, O’Neill feels the belief shown in him as a teenager has proven instructive to his approach to international management.

“Billy put a lot of faith in me and maybe the fact that he put that faith in me has influenced me to put faith in young players as well,” he said.

One such player is Isaac Price who was given his international debut as a 19-year-old who had played just 13 senior minutes for Everton.

“He’s been perfect for me. He brought me in at a time he didn’t have to,” said Price, who later moved to Standard Liege and is now with West Brom.

“I was playing under-23s football at Everton and he saw something in me he thought he could use and develop.”

Price became the youngest player to score 10 times for Northern Ireland when he netted against Germany in the 3-1 defeat last month.

The 22-year-old had missed a penalty against Luxembourg three days prior to scoring in Cologne and credits a brief exchange with O’Neill as vital in quickly moving on from his poor performance.

“You’ve missed a penalty, didn’t play very well, and it’s a bit of a low point. You feel like everything’s coming down and then you’re going to play Germany,” he added.

“The night before the game Michael comes over to me and just says ‘forget about what happened the other night, you’ll go out and do something’ and then it happens.

“That’s his experience. Michael has been around football so long, he’d have seen it with so many players. He just managed me really well.”

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Trai Humeâ€s first Northern Ireland goal helped them to a 2-0 win over Slovakia to keep their World Cup qualifying campaign on track. Patrik Hrosovskyâ€s 18th-minute own goal rewarded Northern Ireland for a strong start but, after wasting two outstanding chances to double their lead either side of the break, they endured some nervy moments before Hume lifted the ball over the stranded Martin Dubravka with 10 minutes to go.

“The keeper has come to clear it, and I just had to guide it towards the goal and thankfully I did,†Hume told BBC Northern Ireland. “It was a great night, good performance and the most important thing is the three points. I think we deserved it.â€

The victory was reward for a strong performance, particularly in the first half, but the man at heart of it, captain Conor Bradley, picked up a cheap late yellow card that rules him out of Mondayâ€s visit of Germany.

Bradley had looked like a man on a mission from the start as Northern Ireland played with energy and desire and it was the Liverpool man who sparked the move for the opening goal. He picked out Ethan Galbraith in space inside the box, and the Swansea midfielder pulled back a low cross which the hapless Hrosovsky turned into his own net.

The second came on 80 minutes when Dubravka, unconvincing in commanding his area for much of the night, punched the ball weakly and it landed for Hume to lift it back over him and into an unguarded net.

Michael Oâ€Neill had refused to call this a must-win, but the reality was they needed all three points to keep pace in European Group A, in which Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Germany now all have six points from three games.

Joshua Kimmich netted twice to power Germany to a 4-0 home win over Luxembourg after the visitors went down to 10 men in the first half. The opening two goals came from dead-ball situations. David Raum curled in a free kick after 12 minutes and Kimmich converted a penalty nine minutes later after Luxembourgâ€s Dirk Carlson was sent off for handball in the area.

Joshua Kimmich scores from the spot in Germanyâ€s 4-0 victory. Photograph: Michael Probst/AP

Serge Gnabry scored the third three minutes after the break and Kimmich got his double two minutes later. The win puts the Germans top of Group A on goal difference.

North Macedonia put on a defensive masterclass to hold Belgium to a 0-0 draw away and keep a one-point lead in Group J, which also includes Wales.

The visitors kept out everything Belgium could throw at them in a near 90-minute siege. Belgium attacked almost from the start, with Jérémy Doku continually trying to open up the defence from the left flank and Kevin De Bruyne probing from the edge of the area. But their efforts were thwarted by a committed defence and when it was breached, goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski came up with some key saves.

North Macedonia lead Group J with 12 points from six games, one ahead of Belgium and two ahead of Wales. Belgium and Wales, who face each other on Monday, both have a game in hand over North Macedonia.

Kylian Mbappé was the saviour as France closed in on qualification with a lacklustre 3-0 home win over Azerbaijan in Group D. The Real Madrid forward opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time and set up Adrien Rabiot for the second, with substitute Florian Thauvin adding the third to put Les Bleus on nine points from three games and give Didier Deschamps†side a chance to secure qualification on Monday when they travel to Iceland.

Kylian Mbappé celebrates opening the scoring for France against Azerbaijan. Photograph: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images

“We got the result we wanted but not the performance – especially in the first half,†said Deschamps. “Our ball circulation was too slow, it was all a bit too flat. I canâ€t stop players from thinking the goal will come eventually, but we didnâ€t do enough to unsettle them.â€

Ukraine scored twice in the last five minutes through Ivan Kalyuzhnyi and Oleh Ocheretko to beat Iceland 5-3 in an extraordinary game in Reykjavik. Iceland had fought back from 3-1 down to level things before Ukraineâ€s late strikes. The win moves Ukraine into second place in Group D. Azerbaijan, who next play Ukraine, remain bottom of the table with one point.

Switzerland captain, Granit Xhaka, scored from the spot as his side beat Sweden 2-0 in their Group B clash, leaving the Swedes†hopes of qualifying for next yearâ€s finals hanging by a thread after another dismal display.

Switzerland top the group with a perfect nine points from their opening three games, with Kosovo second on four points and Slovenia third on two after they played out a scoreless draw in Pristina. Sweden, who started with their star strikers Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres up front, are bottom with a point.

Isak struck the foot of the post for the hosts in the 26th minute before teeing up Lucas Bergvall for their best chance of the game, but the 19-year-old somehow managed to get the ball caught under his feet with the goal at his mercy. That miss proved costly when Switzeland took the lead in the 65th minute after Alexander Bernhardsson sent Djibril Sow sprawling in the box with a push in the back. Xhaka blasted the resulting penalty straight down the middle.

A frustrating night for Sweden was finished off when Swiss substitute Johan Manzabiâ€s tame effort was deflected past keeper Viktor Johansson in second-half stoppage time, condemning them to a second defeat in three games that leaves their qualifying chances in tatters.

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O’Neill believes the win, which stretches Northern Ireland’s unbeaten streak at home to seven games, shows the maturity of his young side and how good they can be.

“I think they understand now the levels they can get to, there is still more to go with this group of players,” he added.

“Tonight, we showed what we can be like at home, we have shown this before if you look back to the Bulgaria game, but we played a better team tonight and we showed it against a very good team.”

Reluctant to single out players given so many performed well, O’Neill did praise captain on the night Bradley for being the catalyst, particularly down the right side.

“From the word ‘go’ he was magnificent, his energy, him and Ethan [Galbraith] on were terrific on that side with their link-up and quality,” O’Neill said.

“We have so many good young players who love playing together. It is difficult to pick one player, Conor does stand out because he does so many good things, it was good for him to captain the team on a night like this.”

The only dampener on a positive night for NI was that 22-year-old Liverpool full-back Bradley picked up the yellow card for a foul that will rule him out of the crucial meeting with Germany in Belfast on Monday.

O’Neill was frustrated by the decision. When asked how harsh he felt the yellow card was – Bradley’s second in three qualifiers – O’Neill said it was “extremely” so.

“I have watched it back and he tries to pull out,” O’Neill said.

“The referee, at times, it was good he didn’t want to hand out yellow cards, but if he was going to give a yellow for that he should have dished out more. Especially for the opposition.”

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Flintoff is also the head coach of the England Lions development side and his results at the Superchargers alongside England white-ball captain Harry Brook – his first full-time first-team coaching position – have been impressive.

The Headingley-based franchise finished bottom of the standings in the year before he took over and sixth and fifth in the two seasons prior.

A coach of his stature – he played 79 Tests for England and was part of the 2005 Ashes win – has also been a boost to the tournament.

Flintoff, who has also been tipped a future England head coach, was regularly the most popular request for fans hunting autographs and pictures after matches in Leeds.

“We’ve seen the Hundred change now,” said Flintoff. “We’ve got new owners, and I spoke to them when they phoned up. They said they wanted us to do it, so I said: ‘Yeah, fine. Make us an offer.’

“I’m not going to do it, which is sad. The past two years, I felt we were building somewhere really nice, and I’d have loved to have seen it through.”

Yorkshire were the only county to sell their entire stake in their Hundred franchise during the process earlier this year.

India-based media company Sun Group, owners of Indian Premier League side Sunrisers Hyderabad, have paid just over £100m. They also own Sunrisers Eastern Cape in South Africa’s SA20.

With different IPL owners investing in four Hundred teams – the Superchargers, Oval Invincibles, Southern Brave and Manchester Originals – it is expected there will be some continuity of kits, team names, players and possibly coaches with owners’ other teams.

Former New Zealand international Daniel Vettori is Sunrisers Hyderabad coach, although he is also an assistant with Australia’s men’s team.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape are coached by South African Adrian Birrell.

Trent Rockets are currently without a head coach after Andy Flower moved to London Spirit in a deal announced last week.

Superchargers have been contacted for comment.

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