Irish National Football Team / World Championships

Ireland
Éire (Irish) / Ireland (Engl.)

World Cup record goalscorer:	Robbie Keane (3)
World Cup record players:	Steve Staunton (13 / all)
Rank :	38
Balance sheet
13 World Cup games 2 wins 8 draws 3 defeats 10:10 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Ireland 1-1 England Cagliari ( ITA ); June 11, 1990
Biggest World Cup win Ireland 3-0 Saudi Arabia Yokohama ( JPN ); June 11, 2002
Biggest World Cup defeat Ireland 0-2 Netherlands Orlando ( USA ); 4th July 1994
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	3 ( first : 1990 )
Best results	Quarter-finals 1990
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(Status: after the 2018 World Cup )

The article provides a detailed account of the Irish national football team at World Cups . Ireland played the most World Cup qualifiers of all European teams (141 - as of November 14, 2017).

overview

Ireland took part in three football World Cups. The team always survived the group phase. The best result came when they first took part in 1990 , when they made it to the quarter-finals. In the all-time World Cup table, however, Ireland is only ranked 38th in midfield, one place ahead of Northern Ireland , which has also participated three times so far.

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	not participated
1934	Italy	not qualified				In the qualification to the Netherlands and Belgium failed
1938	France	not qualified				In the qualification of Norway failed
1950	Brazil	not qualified				In the qualification of Sweden failed
1954	Switzerland	not qualified				In the qualification of France failed
1958	Sweden	not qualified				In the qualification of England failed
1962	Chile	not qualified				Failed in the qualification at the ČSSR
1966	England	not qualified				In the qualification to playoff in Paris to Spain failed
1970	Mexico	not qualified				Failed in the qualification at the ČSSR
1974	Germany	not qualified				In the qualification of the USSR failed
1978	Argentina	not qualified				In the qualification of France failed
1982	Spain	not qualified				In the qualification to Belgium and France failed
1986	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualification of Denmark and the USSR failed
1990	Italy	Quarter finals	Italy	8th.	Jack Charlton
1994	United States	Round of 16	Netherlands	16.	Jack Charlton
1998	France	not qualified				In the qualification of Romania failed
2002	South Korea / Japan	Round of 16	Spain	12.	Mick McCarthy	Defeat on penalties, after regular playing time and extra time it was 1-1.
2006	Germany	not qualified				In the qualification of France and Switzerland failed.
2010	South Africa	not qualified				In the qualifying play-offs in France failed.
2014	Brazil	not qualified				In the qualification Ireland met Germany , the Faroe Islands , Kazakhstan , Austria and Sweden and could not qualify.
2018	Russia	not qualified				In the qualifying failed in the playoff games of the runners-up at Denmark.

World Cup tournaments

World Championship 1930

The Football Association of Ireland was founded in 1921 in the year of independence and the first international match as an Irish Free State was played in 1924, but like many European teams it did not take part in the first World Cup. After that, however, the Irish took part in all qualifications, which otherwise only the Luxembourgers did.

World Championship 1934

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Europe, the Irish had to play against the Netherlands and Belgium , with each of the three teams playing a home game and an away game. On February 25, 1934, they played the first World Cup qualifier in Dublin and reached a 4-4 against Belgium, with Paddy Moore scoring all four goals for the Irish. In Amsterdam they lost 5-2 to the Dutch, who also won against the Belgians in Antwerp . Since the Irish conceded one more goal than the Belgians, the Belgians were qualified for the World Cup alongside the Dutch.

World Championship 1938

In qualifying for the first World Cup in France, the Irish had to play against Norway . After a 2: 3 in Oslo , the 3: 3 in the second leg was not enough to qualify for the World Cup.

World Championship 1950

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Brazil, the Irish should play against Sweden and Finland . The first game in Stockholm was lost 3-1. On September 8, 1949, the 3-0 win against Finland was the first victory in a World Cup qualifier. After a 1-1 draw in Finland, the home game against the Swedes was also lost. Since Finland withdrew, only the two games against Sweden were counted and Sweden qualified for the World Cup.

World Championship 1954

In qualifying for the World Cup in Switzerland, the Irish had to play against France and Luxembourg . They lost both games against France, but both won against Luxembourg, which also lost twice to France. The French were thus qualified for the World Cup.

World Championship 1958

In qualifying Ireland had to play against England and Denmark . Ireland and England both won their games against Denmark, but the English won their home game against Ireland, while the two were only 1-1 in Dublin. The English were thus qualified for the World Cup.

World Championship 1962

In the qualification the ČSSR and Scotland were the opponents. The Irish lost all four games. The ČSSR and Scotland were tied at the end, so that a playoff had to be played. The ČSSR won this 4-2 after extra time.

World Championship 1966

The Irish also had to play a playoff in qualifying . Previously they had won their home game 1-0 against Spain , but lost 4-1 in Seville . The Syrians who were also assigned to the group had withdrawn. Since the goals scored did not count, the Irish and Spanish had to look for a decision in Paris . The Irish lost 0-1 to the Iberians and were eliminated again.

World Championship 1970

In the qualification the Irish had to compete against the ČSSR as well as Olympic champions Hungary and Denmark . The Irish could only win a point in the 1-1 draw against Denmark and were bottom of the group. The ČSSR prevailed in a play-off against Hungary.

1974 World Cup

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Germany, the USSR and France were the opponents. The Irish lost twice to the Soviet Union, but were able to win their home game against France and draw in France. However, they were eliminated as runners-up. The Soviet Union still had to compete in the intercontinental playoffs against Chile, but refused to compete in the Estadio Nacional , as several thousand opposition members had been detained, tortured and murdered in the stadium in the first days of the Pinochet putsch. Since FIFA refused to postpone the game, the USSR team did not compete. The game was rated 2-0 for Chile, which qualified with it.

World Championship 1978

In qualifying for the World Cup in Argentina, France and Bulgaria were again the opponents . The Irish could only win the home game against France and with a goalless draw against Bulgaria one more point, the two away games were lost, whereby Ireland were eliminated as the group bottom.

World Championship 1982

In qualifying for the World Cup in Spain, the Irish had to compete in a group of five for the first time, with the first two teams qualifying. Opponents were Belgium , again France , the Netherlands and Cyprus . The Irish did not lose any of their home games, but could only win away in Cyprus and ended up tied with France in third place. Since the French had the better goal difference, they qualified for the World Cup together with group winners Belgium.

1986 World Championship

In qualifying for the second World Cup in Mexico, Denmark and the USSR as well as Switzerland and Norway were the opponents. The Irish started qualifying with a 1-0 win against the USSR, but then lost in Norway and Denmark. After a goalless home game against Norway, a 3-0 home win against Switzerland and a 0-0 win in Switzerland were achieved, but the remaining games were lost. Thus, the Irish were eliminated as fourth in the group.

World Cup 1990

The qualification for the second World Cup in Italy was finally completed successfully. The Irish had already reached the European Championship finals for the first time in 1988 under Jack Charlton , one of the English world champions from 1966, defeating England in the process. Charlton also looked after the Irish in qualifying for the World Cup. He had been looking specifically for British-born players of Irish descent who had little chance of being accepted into the British national teams, as they often played at clubs in the English second division. Although only the second place behind Spain was taken in the qualification with one point behind , Hungary , Northern Ireland and Malta were relegated to the places. The Irish only had to concede two goals and thus provided the best defense in qualifying.

In Italy they were drawn into a death group with England , the Netherlands and Egypt , which was part of the group for the first time since 1934. In their first World Cup game, the Irish met England on June 11, 1990 in Cagliari and won a 1-1 draw. They were already behind in the 9th minute with a goal from Gary Lineker . In the 73rd minute, however, Kevin Sheedy equalized with the first Irish World Cup goal. Against Egypt they couldn't get past a 0-0 and after the last group game against the Dutch ended 1-1, both had 3: 3 points and 2: 2 goals, so the lot had to decide who was second in the group and behind the English - became third. The lot determined the Irish to runner-up in the group and so they met Romania in the round of 16 . Since neither scored a goal in 120 minutes, the penalty shoot-out had to decide. While all five Irish and the first four Romanians were successful, the Irish goalkeeper Pat Bonner was able to save the last Romanian penalty. This meant that the Irish qualified for the quarter-finals against hosts Italy , but lost 1-0. Reaching the quarter-finals is still the best result for the Irish at a World Cup.

World Championship 1994

Scene from the round of 16 against the Netherlands

Four years later, the Irish were able to qualify again. In a seventh qualifying group with Spain, Denmark , Northern Ireland, Lithuania , Latvia and Albania , they finished second with the Danes, one point behind Spain, with the same point and goal difference as they had scored more goals than the Danes. They secured qualification on the last day of the match with a 1-1 draw in Northern Ireland, as the Danes lost 1-0 in the parallel game in Spain.

In the USA they were drawn into a group with Italy, Mexico and Norway, which was back for the first time since 1938. In the first game against Italy they were able to take back the quarter-final defeat four years earlier with a 1-0 win and thus win a World Cup game for the first time. Against Mexico they then lost 2-1 and after a goalless draw against Norway, the four teams each had four points and one goal difference due to the different results of the group. With the Mexicans scoring the most goals, they were group winners and with the Irish beating Italy they were runners-up. But Italy also reached the last sixteen as third in the group. The Norwegians, who had only scored one goal, were eliminated.

In the round of 16, the Irish met the Dutch and were eliminated with a 2-0 defeat, which meant they said goodbye to the World Cup for eight years.

World Championship 1998

In qualifying for the second World Cup in France, the Irish went under Mick McCarthy , who had replaced Jack Charlton after missing the qualification for the European Championship in 1996 . The Irish had to face Romania , Lithuania, Macedonia , Iceland and Liechtenstein . With 10 points behind Romania, they only took second place and missed direct qualification. As runners-up in the group, they still had the chance to participate in the World Cup in the relegation games of the runners-up in the group. Belgium was drawn as their opponent. After a 1-1 draw at home, the second leg was lost 2-1 and qualification was missed.

World Championship 2002

Even four years later, the direct qualification did not succeed . Equal on points with Portugal , but with the worse goal difference, they only finished second in the group of seven. After all, the more highly rated Dutch could be eliminated, which was celebrated in German stadiums with the song " Without Holland we're going to the World Cup" . Estonia , Cyprus and Andorra , which lost all games, played no role in the award of the World Cup tickets. As second in the group, the Irish met Iran , third in the Asian qualification, in the playoffs . After a 2-0 win at home, a 0-1 defeat in Tehran could be coped with.

In Japan, the Irish met Cameroon in the first group game and did not get beyond a 1-1 draw. A 1-1 draw was also fought against Germany , which the later record scorer Robbie Keane secured with a goal in the second minute of stoppage time. Against Saudi Arabia , the Irish achieved their highest World Cup victory with a 3-0 win and thus reached the round of 16. In this, the Irish met Spain and fell behind after just seven minutes. In the 90th minute, however, Robbie Keane was able to equalize with a penalty kick, so that it came to extra time. Since there were no goals in this, the penalty shoot-out had to decide. Five shooters failed in this one: two Spaniards and Matt Holland shot next to the goal and the penalties from David Connolly and Kevin Kilbane were saved by the Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas . Spain won the penalty shoot-out 3-2 and Ireland said goodbye to the World Cup for at least 20 years.

World Championship 2006

In qualifying for the second World Cup in Germany, France , as well as Switzerland , Israel , Cyprus and the Faroe Islands were the opponents again. In the end, the Irish finished one point behind the tied Swiss and Israelis in fourth place. They lost the qualification with a goalless draw in the last game against Switzerland, which then prevailed in the playoffs of the group runners-up against Turkey . With the qualification, the tenure of Brian Kerr as national coach, who had taken over in 2003, also ended. France qualified directly as group winners.

World Championship 2010

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Africa, the Irish reached the play-offs of the group runners-up, but then failed because of Thierry Henry , with which France qualified for the World Cup and embarrassed them there. Previously, the Irish, who had been looked after by Italian Giovanni Trapattoni since 2008, had finished second in a group with Italy , Bulgaria , Cyprus, Montenegro - which participated for the first time - and Georgia, behind world champions Italy. In the playoffs of the group runners-up they then lost the home game 1-0 against the French, but were able to take a 1-0 lead in the second leg, which they defended until the 90th minute. In the subsequent extra time, Thierry Henry put his hand twice after a wide free kick from midfield, whereby the ball went to William Gallas , who scored the 1-1 final score. The protests of the Irish were ignored by the referee and the request of the Irish to take part in the World Cup as the 33rd team was rejected by FIFA.

World Championship 2014

Ireland before the qualifier against Austria on September 10, 2013

In qualifying for the second World Cup in Brazil, Ireland met Germany , the Faroe Islands , Kazakhstan , Austria and Sweden and could not qualify. The Irish suffered their highest home defeat in the 1: 6 against eventual world champions Germany and after a 0: 1 against Austria, Giovanni Trapattoni's tenure as Irish national coach ended. His successor was Noel King , then Martin O'Neill for two games .

World Championship 2018

In qualifying for the World Cup in Russia, which began in September 2016, the Irish faced Wales , Austria , Serbia , Moldova and Georgia . Halfway through the games, three of which were won and two ended in a draw, the Irish were in second place due to the worse goal difference behind the tied Serbs. The second half of the season started for the Irish with two 1-1 draws. Then they lost their home game against Serbia 1-0 and dropped to third place behind Wales. But since the Serbs then lost in Austria, they missed early qualification because Ireland and Wales won the parallel games. In the last game the three teams still had the chance to win the group. The Serbs, however, had the easier game in front of them with 18 points, as they met the Georgians, who had not been victorious until then, while Wales (17 points) and Ireland (16 points) met in a direct duel in Cardiff and won the group only with a Serbian defeat could make out. Wales had the advantage of the home game but was handicapped by Gareth Bale's injury- related loss . As expected, Serbia won against Georgia and went to the World Cup as group winners. However, the Irish won 1-0 in Wales and pushed the Welsh out of second place. Ireland has reached the playoff games for the eighth time (four times each EM and World Cup qualification) and thus set a new record. Opponent in the playoffs was Denmark, against which the Irish played in the qualifications for the World Championships in 1958, 1970, 1986 and 1994, which the Danes successfully completed in 1986 and the Irish in 1994. After a 0-0 draw in Denmark, Shane Duffy gave his team the lead in the second leg in the sixth minute, but this only lasted until the 29th minute. The draw, which would not have brought the Irish any further due to the away goals rule , lasted only three minutes, then the Danes took the lead and increased it to 5-1 until the end, which means that Ireland is once again not qualified.

player

Ranking of the Irish World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Steve Staunton : 13 appearances in 3 tournaments (he was used in all World Cup games of the Irish)

02. Pat Bonner , Ray Houghton , Paul McGrath , Andy Townsend : 9 appearances in 2 tournaments

06. John Aldridge : 8 appearances in 2 tournaments

07. Niall Quinn : 7 appearances in 2 tournaments

Ranking of the Irish World Cup players with the highest number of World Cup goals

01. Robbie Keane - 3 goals

02. Seven players with one goal

World Cup captains

• 1990: Mick McCarthy
• 1994: Andy Townsend
• 2002: Steve Staunton

Players banned from World Championships

• 1994: Denis Irwin and Terry Phelan received the second yellow card in the game against Mexico and were suspended for the last group game.

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

So far there have only been legionnaires in the squad of the Irish team, mostly players playing in England, some of which only played in the English second division. Most were also born in England, a few in Scotland and Wales, none in Northern Ireland.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1990 (5)	22 (18 in England, 1 in France, 2 in Scotland, 1 in Spain)	Tony Cascarino (5), Ray Houghton (5), Chris Hughton (0), David Kelly (0), Mick McCarthy (5), Paul McGrath (5), Alan McLoughlin (2), Kevin Moran (5), David O 'Leary (1), Gerry Peyton (0), Niall Quinn (4), Kevin Sheedy (5), John Sheridan (1), Bernie Slaven (0), Frank Stapleton (0), Steve Staunton (5), Andy Townsend (5), Ronnie Whelan (1); John Byrne (0); Pat Bonner (5), Chris Morris (5); John Aldridge (5)
1994 (4)	22 (20 in England, 2 in Scotland)	John Aldridge (3), Phil Babb (4), Tony Cascarino (1), Ray Houghton (4), Denis Irwin (2), Roy Keane (4), Alan Kelly (0), David Kelly (1), Gary Kelly (2), Alan Kernaghan (0), Jason McAteer (4), Eddie McGoldrick (0), Paul McGrath (4), Alan McLoughlin (0), Kevin Moran (0), Terry Phelan (3), John Sheridan (4 ), Steve Staunton (4), Andy Townsend (4), Ronnie Whelan (1); Pat Bonner (4), Tommy Coyne (3)
2002 (4)	23 (in England)	Gary Breen (4), Lee Carsley (1), David Connolly (1), Kenny Cunningham (2), Damien Duff (4), Richard Dunne (0), Steve Finnan (4), Shay Given (4), Ian Harte (4), Matt Holland (4), Robbie Keane (4), Roy Keane (0), Alan Kelly (0), Gary Kelly (4), Dean Kiely (0), Kevin Kilbane (4), Mark Kinsella (4 ), Jason McAteer (2), Clinton Morrison (0), Andy O'Brien (0), Niall Quinn (3), Steven Reid (2), Steve Staunton (4),

Games

• Ireland has played 13 World Cup games so far. Of these, two were won, three lost and eight ended in a draw. After Angola and Israel, which only played three World Cup games, Ireland has the largest percentage of draw games (61.5%). Two games had to be extended and one of them was won and lost on penalties .
• Ireland have met Italy and the Netherlands twice in the World Cup tournament .
• Ireland never played in the opening game but faced the hosts once (1990).
• The Irish never played against the defending champion and the eventual world champion.
• Ireland never faced a newcomer to the World Cup.

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion	Remarks
1.	June 11, 1990	1: 1	England	*	Cagliari ( ITA )	Group game
2.	June 17, 1990	0-0	Egypt	*	Palermo ( ITA )	Group game	First game against Egypt
3.	June 21, 1990	1: 1	Netherlands	*	Palermo ( ITA )	Group game
4th	June 25, 1990	0: 0 a.d., 5: 4 in E.	Romania	*	Genoa ( ITA )	Round of 16
5.	June 30, 1990	0: 1	Italy	A.	Rome ( ITA )	Quarter finals
6th	June 18, 1994	1-0	Italy	*	East Rutherford ( USA )	Group game
7th	June 24, 1994	1: 2	Mexico	*	Orlando ( USA )	Group game
8th.	June 28, 1994	0-0	Norway	*	East Rutherford ( USA )	Group game
9.	04th July 1994	0: 2	Netherlands	*	Orlando ( USA )	Round of 16	300th international match for the Irish
10.	0June 1, 2002	1: 1	Cameroon	*	Niigata ( JPN )	Group game	First game against Cameroon
11.	0June 5, 2002	1: 1	Germany	*	Kashima ( JPN )	Group game	Steve Staunton makes his 100th international for Ireland
12.	June 11, 2002	3-0	Saudi Arabia	*	Yokohama ( JPN )	Group game	First game against Saudi Arabia
13.	June 16, 2002	1: 1 n.V., 2: 3 i. E.	Spain	*	Suwon ( KOR )	Round of 16	Steve Staunton is making his 102nd and final international appearance for Ireland

Highest victories and defeats

The Irish team scored the highest victory in the World Cup tournament only against Saudi Arabia and only the defeat against Mexico was the highest (only) defeat against Mexico.

particularities

Ireland are the only team with more than one participation with an even goal difference.

See also

• Football World - Statistics - Ireland on fifa.com
• fifa.com: "Statistical overview: records and milestones"
• Irish National Football Team / European Championships

References and footnotes

1. ↑ One of these games won and lost on penalties .
2. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930-2010 (PDF; 200 kB)
3. ↑ Irish Free State - Belgium 4: 4
4. ↑ kicker.de: "France can do it - but not on its own"
5. ↑ nzz.ch: "Ireland wants to be the 33rd team at the World Cup"
6. ↑ uefa.com: World Cup seeding list for play-offs confirmed