What next for Northern Ireland as World Cup wait continues?

ByAndy Gray

BBC Sport NI Journalist at the New Balance Arena

Northern Ireland's World Cup dream may have come to a disappointing end in Italy, but attention quickly turned to what lies ahead.

The disappointment of missing out on a first World Cup in 40 years, after well-taken strikes from Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean for the hosts in Bergamo, will sting for a while yet.

But, when the dust settles, the pride in the performance will shine through.

The average age of Michael O'Neill's starting team was just 22.5 years - the country's second youngest on record since World War Two.

Paddy McNair was the only player over the age of 24, and O'Neill was missing three key players in Conor Bradley, Trai Hume and Ali McCann.

Despite that, a fearless young side frustrated the hosts, but ultimately it wasn't enough to progress.

"It's hard when you lose a game to realise the positives," said O'Neill.

"The players are disappointed and you have to feel that disappointment with them as well.

"But for a nation of our size, to come with a team of that age and play as we did, there's a lot more positives.

"When we reflect on the game and what we've done in this campaign overall, to be here at the play-off stage, play the way we played in the group, we have a lot more things to be positive about."

While they have missed out on World Cup, O'Neill is already optimistic about the future.

Even with Bradley (22), McCann (26) and Ballard (26) to come back into the side, the age profile doesn't shift.

"Look, of course we want the challenge all the time, but we've got to recognise where we are as a nation and what we have to do to get to a World Cup is extremely difficult," added O'Neill.

"For us to get to a World Cup, we have to get there at the expense of a nation like Italy, which is a huge challenge.

"We will take this forward when qualification comes for Euro 2028, when the players will be further along in their journey.

"We might have some additional players in the squad as well, but the squad is only going to continue to improve because we're not going to see a drop off.

"The majority of this squad will remain together for a good few tournaments to come."

While the future of the team is on an upwards trajectory, questions have been asked about O'Neill's long-term position as manager.

His decision to combine his Northern Ireland job with Blackburn Rovers was divisive among supporters and media, but he was adamant taking on the job would not impact the World Cup play-off.

He was true to his word as the performance in Bergamo backed it up.

After Tuesday's friendly against Wales in Cardiff, his focus will be on the remaining seven games in the Championship with Blackburn as he looks to help them avoid relegation.

He is contracted with Northern Ireland until 2028, and when asked about his future beyond the summer, he said he will "revert back to the status quo".

"I will manage the remaining seven games for Blackburn Rovers, but my contract is still with the Irish FA," added O'Neill.

"I'm contracted to 2028 and after Blackburn Rovers, I'll revert back to the status quo, which is the national team manager."

Italy legend Gianfranco Zola, who was at the game for BBC Sport, was particularly impressed with the Charles brothers, midfielder Shea and goalkeeper Pierce, who he described as "brilliant".

"This national team has a very good future, they have potential and they need to keep growing and improving," said the former Chelsea forward.

"When they get something more in the final third of the pitch there will be a big improvement."

Those are big words from a player and pundit of Zola's stature, and O'Neill echoed those thoughts.

He described 20-year-old Sheffield Wednesday stopper Pierce, who missed the entire group campaign through injury, as "magnificent", and felt Shea and fellow midfielder Ethan Galbraith "could both play at a higher level" than Championship clubs after impressing against Tonali, Manuel Locatelli and Nicolo Barella.

O'Neill said he could praise every player in his team for how they adapted on a big stage.

"The saves that he made at key moments, but his [Pierce's] decision making was excellent," he added.

"He doesn't bring any pressure on to his back three, which I think is rare in a goalkeeper of that age. He's got a brilliant temperament.

"There were great performances all over the pitch tonight, but Pierce in particular had a very strong performance.

"The difficulty, as I say, is having depth in our squad to deal with when players are not available to us - and that's something that will take a bit of time.

"There's no way to fast track that. We just have to be patient."

O'Neill said Northern Ireland would have to be "patient" to improve the squad's strength in depth, but they had "developed and grown" over the past two years, pushing Germany in home and away qualifiers, as well as Italy.

"Yes, we've lost those games, but the games have all been tight," O'Neill added.

"We've been in the game. We've given a good account of ourselves. We've developed a good characteristic of a team that's hard to beat.

"That has to be something that we have to continue with."