Friendly: Northern Ireland 1-1 Qatar

A superb strike from substitute Karim Boudiaf earned Qatar a 1-1 draw with Northern Ireland at Gretsy Road on Sunday.

Michael O'Neill's side had looked set to warm up for their crucial Euro 2016 qualifier against Romania with a friendly win thanks to Stuart Dallas, with the Brentford winger firing home after Niall McGinn's cross was flicked on at the front post by Will Grigg.

Dallas nearly doubled his international tally soon afterwards, only for Mohammed Musa's desperate sliding clearance to deny him tapping home Jamie Ward's low ball from the right.

And he was punished for his profligacy after 70 minutes, as Boudiaf levelled the scores with a curling effort from long range.

The ball broke kindly to the Lekhwiya midfielder, and his first-time shot beat goalkeeper Michael McGovern before dipping into the net.

Northern Ireland had gone close to conceding just before their equaliser, McGovern having to go down low to his left after Abdelkarim Hassan had touched on an inswinging free-kick from the left touchline.

Jonny Evans had the best chance to grab a late winner, but the Manchester United defender was unable to get his header from a corner on target.

The result was hardly ideal for O'Neill's squad ahead of their clash with Romania at Windsor Park on June 13. They currently sit one point behind their next opponents in the battle for top spot in Group F.