CORRY Evans and Northern Ireland have been made to wait to see if they will qualify for the round of 16 at the European Championship after they lost their last Group C game 1-0 to reigning world champions Germany at the Parc des Princes.

A 29th-minute Mario Gomez goal earned the 2014 World Cup winners a victory which guaranteed they finished top of the group on goal difference above Poland, who beat Ukraine 1-0 in Marseille, and left Northern Ireland in third place.

The best four third-placed teams from the six groups will progress to the last 16 and, going into tonight’s final round of Group D matches, Northern Ireland were still on course to be among them after finishing on three points – and a goal difference of zero.

But they had Michael McGovern to thank for that as the out-of-contract Hamilton Academical keeper produced a miraculous display to restrict Germany to one goal.

He saved from Thomas Muller, Mesut Ozil, Mario Gotze, Sami Khedira and Gomez to keep the score down.

Muller also hit the woodwork on two separate occasions as Germany racked up 28 attempts at McGovern’s goal.

But they did find a way past the inspired shot-stopper just before the half-hour mark when Muller teed-up Gomez to score what proved to be the winner.

Northern Ireland, whose line-up featured Rovers midfielder Evans, as well as Reading’s Burnley-born midfielder Oliver Norwood, rarely threatened in the Paris clash.

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But McGovern’s one-man show of defiance ensured they remained in the running to be one of the best four third-placed teams.

McGovern said: “If it is not meant to be for us to go through, we will be very disappointed

“It was busy today and mentally very hard. We knew every goal was crucial so wanted to keep it at one and maybe nick a goal of our own.”

Republic of Ireland, meanwhile, need to beat Group E winners Italy in Lille tomorrow night to stand any chance of making the round of 16.

And Ireland boss Martin O’Neill, who is said to be giving consideration to starting Rovers centre-back Shane Duffy, has told his players to draw inspiration from their stunning qualifying victory over Germany in Dublin in October.

He said: “We have got our own recent memories ourselves to inspire us, no more so than the night in October time when we beat the world champions.

“When you say it like that there, it just seems to disappear into the ether, but we beat the world champions on a night when we had to win and that’s extraordinary, an extraordinary result.

“They weren’t a normal side, they were the team that just 18 months earlier or whatever it was had gone to Brazil and won the World Cup, so that was a great moment for us.”

Slovakia, who finished third behind Wales and England in Group B, have qualified for the last 16.