Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-3 Northern Ireland: Visitors pick up first win of Euro 2025 qualifying

Northern Ireland produced an impressive second-half performance to defeat Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-1 and collect their first win of Euro 2025 qualifying.

Megan Bell fired home on the hour mark to restore the lead for NI, who were without unwell manager Tanya Oxtoby.

Simone Magill extended the advantage on 68 minutes to secure a morale-boosting victory.

The result follows Friday's disappointing 0-0 draw with Malta at Windsor Park, but this was a much-improved performance from NI.

In the absence of Australian Oxtoby the team were led by coach Stuart McLaren, who only worked with the players for the first time last week.

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Pre-match, captain Marissa Callaghan, who started the match on the bench, said Northern Ireland would have added fire as a result of Oxtoby being unable to join them in Zenica.

After a goalless first half, Northern Ireland made the breakthrough when Wade collected a through ball from Halliday, who put in an impressive performance on her first start, and poked into the bottom corner.

Their advantage lasted all of two minutes when Minela Gacanica got clear down the left and her cutback was well finished by Milinkovic.

However, in a manic spell in temperatures of 30 degrees, Northern Ireland hit back on the hour mark.

Bell collected a loose ball out of defence, beat the defender and raced through on goal before emphatically firing into the top corner to restore their advantage.

It could have been even better when Magill converted Halliday's cross, but the offside flag was swiftly raised.

However, the Aston Villa striker got a deserved goal when she tucked home after being played through by substitute Casey Howe.

Goals follow poor first half

Northern Ireland made a bright start in Zenica as Wade's cross was inches away from Magill.

The hosts hit back with their own chance when Emina Ekic's cross was diverted towards goal by Maja Jelcic, but Jackie Burns was alert to keep the ball out with a smart save.

Bosnia-Herzegovina survived a goalmouth scramble when Bell's free-kick caused havoc in the box, but Envera Hasanbegovic got down to smother the danger before Magill could sort her feet out.

In the hot conditions the pace inevitably relented. Milinkovic and Keri Halliday exchanged long-range efforts, but the best chance of the half fell to Bosnia when Ekic burst through two tackles and ran into the area, but Burns produced a superb save to keep the forward's effort out.

Gacanica volleyed well over before Magill, as she did on Friday against Malta, had a penalty appeal waved away - unlike the game at Windsor Park it was less clear-cut.

The half-time interval did little to lift the tempo before Wade's opener sparked a goal-filled 15 minutes at Bosnia's training centre.

Northern Ireland controlled the game well from there, with the lively Howe firing straight at Hasanbegovic, to secure their first win of qualifying.

Oxtoby is set to return to the dugout for May's double-header with top seeds Portugal, who defeated Malta 2-0 later on Tuesday.