O’Neill ‘baffled’ by refereeing after Northern Ireland’s late win in Georgia

Northern Ireland beat Georgia 1-0 in Tbilisi on 25 September 2026, with Shea Charles scoring a 99th-minute winner to secure their first away victory in the Nations League. But manager Michael O’Neill was left questioning the officiating after a match that also brought an injury to defender Daniel Ballard. [1]

Speaking to BBC Sport NI after the match, O’Neill said he was “baffled by the quality of the refereeing”. His complaints included the penalty awarded to Georgia and Northern Ireland’s rejected appeal at the other end. [1]

Georgia received their penalty following a VAR review in the 65th minute, when Ballard was adjudged to have fouled Luka Lochoshvili while challenging for a cross. Pierce Charles saved Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s spot-kick. In the 88th minute, Northern Ireland’s appeal was waved away after Shea Charles appeared to have been caught in the area. [1]

“I’ve not seen the incident back but to me it seemed incredibly harsh to give a penalty for that,” O’Neill said of Georgia’s award. “We feel aggrieved that we didn’t get one at the other end.” [1]

O’Neill also criticised referee Orel Grinfeeld for not awarding a late free-kick after Ceadach O’Neill was brought down. He blamed that incident for Ballard’s injury; the defender was hurt while chasing a loose ball during Georgia’s ensuing counterattack. [1]

The manager said the Sunderland defender had injured his hamstring and would miss Northern Ireland’s next three games in the window, against Hungary, Ukraine and Georgia. “We’ll scan him tomorrow but he’s certainly not going to be available for the next three games,” he said. [1]