Covid-19 cases, injuries, player withdrawals, unsigned manager’s contracts and questions over the captain’s international future may have been more than sub-plots in most other campaigns.
It’s not a new problem – more a perennial one – but it is showing no signs of being solved.
However, there will no doubt be a strong feeling of ‘what if?’ from supporters when they cast their minds back over the eight matches their team played.
That was not the case after a demoralising scoreless draw at Windsor Park six days later, however.
Home and away victories over Bulgaria and Lithuania were almost certainly going to be required to have a chance of qualifying, meaning a difficult task was looking unlikely after just the second of eight matchdays.
The Swiss were already a goal up before Jamal Lewis was shown a second yellow card for time-wasting at a throw-in, and they added a second for a 2-0 win that meant qualification was almost certainly beyond Northern Ireland.
Having to plan a campaign that had eight qualifiers condensed into eight months would have been made all the more difficult by the upheaval in his own backroom team.
One thing he will know, however, is that the mass withdrawals he faced for the matches in September and October – whether for injuries, Covid-19 or personal reasons – were hugely damaging.
To his credit, Baraclough has remained upbeat throughout, pragmatically declaring that setbacks are there to be dealt with.
Having said he would sit down with his family and speak to Baraclough about his international future when the campaign was over, Davis was the last man off the pitch on Monday night as he made sure he soaked up every last bit of the atmosphere in a stadium he has graced for 16 years.