Pierce Charles saved a penalty and his brother Shea Charles scored the winner as Northern Ireland beat Georgia 1-0 in their Nations League clash in Tbilisi
Brothers Pierce and Shea Charles shared a memorable post-match celebration after playing pivotal roles in Northern Ireland’s historic first Nations League away victory.
Pierce saved Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s 65th-minute penalty before Shea dramatically sealed a 1-0 win over Georgia with virtually the final kick of the match, nine minutes into added time in Tbilisi.
Pierce produced a series of outstanding stops throughout the game, including a superb reflex save to deny Georges Mikautadze at close range early in the second half. Meanwhile, Shea commanded the midfield and, by his own admission, should have broken the deadlock earlier than he did in the Group B2 encounter.
While the brothers have shared plenty of special international moments before, this one surpassed them all.
“We’re just proud to make the family back home so happy,” Pierce said. “I’m happy for Shea as well but it was never in doubt, he performs like that in every game.”
Shea echoed his brother’s sentiments. When asked what it was like watching Pierce face Paris St Germain’s Ballon d’Or contender Kvaratskhelia, he said: “I always back Pierce.
“Patrick Kelly came up and said to me, ‘He’s going to save this’. Yeah, he’s done really well to save it and made a few other really good saves. It’s a credit to him for the win.”
For his part, Pierce brushed off the notion that facing a player of Kvaratskhelia’s calibre brought any added pressure. “There’s no pressure on me, so I back myself all day to save it,” the 21-year-old declared, currently on loan at QPR following his return to Manchester City.
“You do your research before the game and it has paid off.
“At the end of the day, it’s a penalty, all of them are from 12 yards. He’s a great player. I just focus on myself and I saved it.”
Pierce, still just 21, has established himself as first choice goalkeeper, but this represented his finest performance yet at international level as he helped Northern Ireland secure their first competitive away clean sheet since October 2024 – which coincidentally came on his debut against Belarus.
“It just shows far the team has come,” he reflected. “It’s a team achievement keeping a clean sheet, like scoring a goal. The team can be so happy.”
While Pierce earned the player of the match award, Shea could equally have claimed the accolade after dominating proceedings in the centre of the park, clearly brimming with confidence following his summer transfer to Fulham.
“The two boys were brilliant,” Michael O’Neill commented. “I thought Pierce played extremely well, not just his distribution but he makes a big save in the second half as well.
“But he gives you a great range of control because of his passing and everything around that. He gives the back three a lot of security because they know they can go back there.
“And I thought Shea and Ethan (Galbraith) were both brilliant in midfield. Shea was colossal. Not just on the ball, but I felt physically, his ability to step past people, the amount of times he was fouled and the referee for some reason didn’t want to produce a card despite the number of fouls on him.
“But I thought he was fabulous.”
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