The Green and White Army drew 0-0 with Hungary in their second Group B2 fixture of the Nations League on Monday night, impressing against higher-ranked opposition.

Midfielder Patrick Kelly had two chances in the first half before West Bromwich Albion’s Isaac Price was denied late in the game.

Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai was the talk of the game but offered little for his nation during the 90 minutes.

Northern Ireland beat Georgia 1-0 in their first Nations League game last Friday with Fulham midfielder Shea Charles bagging a 99th-minute winner.

Oxford defender Brown was a standout for Michael O’Neill’s side at Windsor Park against Hungary and drew high praise from fans after the stalemate with a second clean sheet in two games.

Steven Beacom, chief sports writer at the Belfast Telegraph, hailed the team’s back three trio of Ruairi McConville, Tom Atcheson and Brown were ‘excellent’ in an X post.

Oxford United centre back Ciaron Brown (Image: Jason Dawson)

One X user named Brown as Northern Ireland’s best player, saying: “Draw the right result. Thought we looked pretty solid but just no real cutting edge.

“Ethan Galbraith excellent (especially playing for so long on a yellow) but Ciaron Brown my MOTM, didn’t put a foot wrong.”

Chris Holt, sports editor at The Star, added: “Another good performance from NI.

“Understandably tired towards the end so it was a case of making sure they got something from it.

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“Defence superb. Ciaron Brown becoming a bit of an unsung hero lately; Atcheson and McConville excellent beside him.”

Another X user heaped praise on the U’s centre back, saying: “Ciaron Brown had a really solid game again here.

“He was commanding, dominating in the air. Two clean-sheets in a row and he’s been a crucial part of that.

“A sloppy game but 8 clean-sheets in 10 at Windsor Park a very solid base of that team but quick back to back games an issue.”

A further X user continued: “Brilliant. He hardly put a foot wrong.

Oxford United centre back Ciaron Brown (Image: Oxford United)

“The big guy never lets us down. Heart like a lion.”

Brown has started both of his nation’s games this international break, with club teammate Brodie Spencer coming off the bench to feature in the duo of matches so far.

The Yellows central defender was a surprise inclusion in the starting XI in the first couple of games but has justified his selection.

The 28-year-old has played every minute of Oxford’s first six League One games of the season, contributing to two clean sheets and three wins as Aaron Ramsey’s side sit 10th in the table.

The attack centres on UEFA’s rejection of Gianni Infantino’s proposal for World Cup private investment.

A legal filing in the South Florida District Court asserts it would have been “a dereliction of duty” for Infantino not to have considered the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal.

The proposal was ultimately abandoned after opposition from UEFA and two other confederations.

Oxford United owner, and Indonesian FA president, Erick Thohir was one of the few to support the idea of selling the World Cup to private investors.

The court filing, seen by the Press Association, rejects claims that Infantino could have personally benefited from the FFE.

It states that the proposal would have needed approval from FIFA’s 211 national associations and the FIFA Council.

The filing also accuses UEFA of making its application for documents related to the FFE “for the purposes of harassment, rather than out of any legitimate need for discovery.”

The European football governing body had argued that the FFE was given a “fraudulently off-market” valuation of 20 billion US dollars.

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However, FIFA countered this by stating that UEFA had confused equity value with enterprise value.

According to FIFA, the enterprise value was “more than twice” that of the equity value.

The FIFA filing added: “UEFA would have learned all of this had it bothered to verify its assertions before publicly decrying the proposal or filing in federal court.”

File photo dated 19/07/2026 of FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump, President of the United States. Gianni Infantino has called on emergency meeting of FIFA staff in Rabat on Wednesday following comments by Arsene Wenger that ramped up the pressure on the president, the Press Association understands. Issue date: Tuesday August 4, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Nick Potts/PA Wire. (Image: Nick Potts/PA Wire)

UEFA has said it has lost confidence in Infantino and is seeking to put up a credible alternative candidate to stand against him in next year’s presidential election.

FIFA’s filing questions the timing of UEFA’s legal application, noting that the deadline for candidates to be submitted is November 18.

PA has approached UEFA for comment.

The U’s are inside the League One play-off places and unbeaten at home, losing just once across their opening six games.

As football fans, we can often feel uneasy and unsure about what to expect heading into a new season, but when it came to Oxford’s return to England’s third tier this term, I don’t think that feeling will ever be matched.

And although there are arguably still more questions than answers at this stage, in my opinion, I wouldn’t describe us as an empty questionnaire anymore.

Ramsey never hid the fact he wanted his team to have control of games.

Oxford are currently averaging the fourth-highest possession figure in the league at 57.7 per cent, and only managed fewer than the opposition against Leicester, who sit top of the table for ball retention.

Oxford United midfielder Tyler Goodrham (Image: Darrell Fisher)

But simply having the majority of possession does not win you matches; you only have to hear the views of most Leicester fans towards their manager Russell Martin right now – or watch that fantastic win we had over them – to reinforce that point.

Even in the Premier League, a recent data chart showed that the average amount of possession teams have has significantly decreased over the last few seasons.

Successful teams are desperate for variety.

They want different ways to hurt opponents and add unpredictability wherever possible.

Which leads on nicely to one of the most pleasing ‘ticks’ on our questionnaire, if we’re going to continue with that analogy: Oxford under Ramsey have shown variety.

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We’ve seen slick build-up through the thirds, countless cut-backs, lightning counter-attacks and crosses into the box.

And that fills me with great encouragement.

When I heard Ramsey repeatedly talk about his desire to control games before the season, as much as I was relieved we might not have to endure watching Mark Harris try to win flick-ons against 6ft 8in centre-backs every week, I did question whether the inexperience of Ramsey – and, more broadly, the pattern of younger managers arriving to play in one particular way to suit their future jobs further up the pyramid – could come at the expense of winning as many games as possible.

But we just haven’t seen that thus far.

Oxford United winger Mo Missanga (Image: Darrell Fisher)

Ramsey and his coaching staff have shown they have the skillset and flexibility to field an Oxford side capable of hurting opponents in different ways.

Of course, as our most recent draw with Cambridge United showed us, we are by no means the finished article.

But the general consensus among Oxford fans heading into our first season away from the Championship for the first time in two years was a fear over our direction.

We can take losing games if we feel we know where we are heading and, certainly on the pitch, it seems there is light at the end of the tunnel at last.