Finland - Northern Ireland Preview: Green and White Army one point away from securing top spot

After qualifying for a major tournament for the first time in almost 30 years and their first ever European Championship, all Northern Irish eyes now turn to Helsinki as they look to earn top spot in Group F.

Northern Ireland fans and players in dreamland

Michael O'Neill's men booked their place in the finals next summer with a hugely impressive 3-1 win over Greece on Thursday evening. The victory sparked wild celebrations in Windsor Park, with local pubs and clubs seeing plenty of happy fans passing through their doors before a sizeable street party on Shaftesbury Square.

A double from Steven Davis and Josh Magennis' first international goal gave the Green and White Army reason to party, though a 2,200 strong traveling band of supporters were heading to Helsinki the very next morning. The team also took a chartered flight to Finland on Friday, as they aim to end the qualifying campaign on top of the standings.

O'Neill, while more than happy to celebrate, wants his players to finish first and reap the rewards they so richly deserve. Their team-work, grit and fight have been evident since the win in Budapest on matchday one, but that is not the only reason why they sparked fans to rush for flights to France. The current Group F leaders have outscored the other five teams, and have been just as confident in defence.

Not since the days of Jimmy Nicholl, Billy Hamilton and Norman Whiteside has their been so much buzz around a group of Northern Irish footballers. Hamilton has already admitted that he is happy to see another generation of fans and players have their moment, and is just as keen to see them succeed come next summer's tournament.

Finland dumped out in the final seconds

There were contrasting emotions for the Finns, who, at one stage, were level with Hungary in the battle for the play-off spot. However, Daniel Bode's double and a late, late equaliser from Ovidiu Hoban put paid to their hopes of securing third place. Joel Pohjanpalo's goal had given them the lead, only for Hoban to crush their dreams of a trip to France in the dying seconds.

Ultimately, it was a poor showing at the start of the campaign that cost Mixu Paatelainen his job. Finland won their opening game against the Faroe Islands, but a five game winless run that included a four-game losing streak forced the association to act. Markku Kanerva was been triumphant in his first two matches before the draw on Thursday.

Even if Kanerva continues his good work by getting a result against Northern Ireland and in the two friendly fixture dates lined up for October, he will not become head coach on a permanent basis. That honour will fall to Hans Backe, who takes charge on January 1st 2016. The Swede, who has an impressive CV behind him, can only be encouraged with some of their recent performances.

Backe knows that with players like Pohjanpalo, Niklas Moisander, Roman Eremenko and Lukas Hradecky he can build from a strong spine and improve upon a rather poor qualifying campaign this time round.

Team news

Eremenko, Riku Riski and Tim Väyrynen have already had to pull out of the squad of Sunday's clash with injury, though Tim Sparv returns to midfield after missing the match in Bucharest. Other than that, Kanerva has a fully fit squad to choose from.

O'Neill will have Conor McLaughlin, Kyle Lafferty and Chris Baird available once more after they served their one-game suspensions on Thursday. Whether they return to the starting eleven in place of the players that performed so well against Greece remains to be seen. Jonny Evans faces a race to be fit but, after qualifying, he may not be risked.