I wont argue too strongly against this but just on the surface it seems they shaded it (see below). Beyond results and looking more deeply at match-by-match or player-by-player performance might show a different story and maybe that is where you are coming from.
Top Group seed: Us, humiliating defeat to Belgium. Them, slim defeat to Germany (game didn't mean a lot to Germany - nor to N. Ireland too mind as they qualified and were likely to qualify anyway). 1 point to N. Ireland.
2nd Seed: Us, slim win vs Italy in a game that meant nothing to them and everything to us. Them, 2-0 win vs Ukraine. 2 points to N. Ireland.
3rd Seed: Us, draw vs Sweden in a game we could have won. Them, defeat to Poland. 1 point to Ireland.
Round of 16: Us, narrow defeat to France. Them narrow defeat to Wales. So shared that round making it 2.5 to 1.5 to N. Ireland.
I'll accept that we were on a par with them over all, or that we were even slightly better. But I don't think that you can get away with saying we were clear cut streets ahead of them or that there was "no way" that we were behind them.
Given the expectation from a team from N. Ireland I think that they had a great tournament.
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