2018 W/Cup Play-offs: Controversial Penalty Dashes North Ireland Hopes As Croatia Thrash Greece

North Ireland’s hope of qualifying for their first world cup in 32 years suffered a major blow as a controversial penalty gave Switzerland a 1-0 win in their play-off first leg on Thursday.

Vladimir Petkovic’s Switzerland team dominated the match at a rain-swept Belfast but squandered many of their chances.

The key moment came with just over half an hour to go, when Xherdan Shaqiri’s volley was blocked by Corry Evans in the box and the referee pointed to the spot, even though he appeared to have been hit on the shoulder as he took evasive action.

Ricardo Rodriguez converted the spot kick into a goal, sending goalkeeper Michael McGovern the wrong way.

In Zagreb, Croatia crushed Greece by 4-1 to move to the brink of a spot at next year’s finals in Russia.

Real Madrid star Luka Modric opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 13th minute.

Croatia doubled their lead in the 19th minute through Nikola Kalinic but Sokratis Papastathopoulos pulled a goal back for Greece in the 30th minute.

In the 33rd minute, Inter Milan star Ivan Perisic restored Croatia’s two-goal advantage before Andrej Kramaric scored in the 49th minute to give Croatia a 4-1 win.

Both sides now turn their attentions to the decisive second leg in Basel on Sunday, with Northern Ireland needing to overcome a one-goal aggregate deficit away from home.

Other European 2018 World Cup first leg play-offs will see Sweden entertain four-time World Cup champions Italy on Friday, and on Saturday, Republic of Ireland will be guests to Denmark.