Northern Irish National Football Team / World Championships

Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( English )
Tuaisceart Éireann ( Irish )
Norlin Airlann ( Ulster Scots )

World Cup record goalscorer:	Peter McParland (5)
World Cup record players:	Billy Hamilton , David McCreery , Sam McIlroy , Jimmy Nicholl and Norman Whiteside (8 each)
Rank :	39
Balance sheet
13 World Cup games 3 wins 5 draws 5 defeats 13:23 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Northern Ireland 1-0 Czechoslovakia Halmstad ( SWE ); June 8, 1958
Biggest World Cup victories Northern Ireland 1-0 Czechoslovakia Halmstad ( SWE ); June 8, 1958 Northern Ireland 2: 1 aet Czechoslovakia Malmö ( SWE ); June 17, 1958 Northern Ireland 1-0 Spain Valencia ( ESP ); June 25, 1982
Biggest World Cup defeat Northern Ireland 0-4 France Norrköping ( SWE ); June 19, 1958
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	3 ( first : 1958 )
Best results	Quarterfinals 1958
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(Status: after the 2018 World Cup )

The article contains a detailed description of the Northern Irish national football team at World Cups . Northern Ireland took part in three World Cup finals, but after 1986 the team could no longer qualify. Until 1998 Northern Ireland was the smallest World Cup participant in terms of area (13,843 km²) and was then replaced by Jamaica (10,991 km²). In 2006, Trinidad and Tobago (5,128 km²) became the smallest World Cup participant. In the all-time table , the Northern Irish are in 39th place, one place behind the Republic of Ireland , which has also qualified three times since 1990.

Overview

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	not participated
1934	Italy	not participated
1938	France	not participated
1950	Brazil	not qualified				in the qualification of England and Scotland , which did not take part, failed
1954	Switzerland	not qualified				failed in qualification to England and Scotland
1958	Sweden	Quarter finals	France	8th.	Peter Doherty	second best British team
1962	Chile	not qualified				failed in qualification to Germany
1966	England	not qualified				failed in qualifying because of Switzerland
1970	Mexico	not qualified				failed in qualification at the USSR
1974	Germany	not qualified				failed in qualification to Bulgaria
1978	Argentina	not qualified				failed in qualification to the Netherlands
1982	Spain	Intermediate round	Austria , France	9.	Billy Bingham
1986	Mexico	Preliminary round	Algeria , Spain Brazil	21st	Billy Bingham
1990	Italy	not qualified				in qualification u. a. failed because of Spain and Ireland
1994	United States	not qualified				in qualification u. a. failed again because of Spain and Ireland
1998	France	not qualified				in qualification u. a. of Germany failed
2002	South Korea / Japan	not qualified				in qualification u. a. to Denmark and the Czech Republic , which failed in the playoffs of the group runners-up, failed
2006	Germany	not qualified				in qualification u. a. on the England and Poland failed
2010	South Africa	not qualified				in qualification u. a. failed because of Slovakia and Slovenia
2014	Brazil	not qualified				in qualification u. a. in Russia and Portugal failed
2018	Russia	not qualified				In the qualification , Northern Ireland finished second in a group with defending champions Germany , the Czech Republic , Norway , Azerbaijan and San Marino and failed in the playoffs of the group runners-up against Switzerland .

Statistics (data including qualification 2018: 21 world championships; percentages are rounded)

• Unqualified: fifteen times (71%; 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018)
• No participation: three times (14%; 1930, 1934 and 1938)
• Athletic qualification: three times (14% or 17% of the attempts)
  • Preliminary round: once (5%; 1986)
  • Intermediate round with 12 participants: once (5%; 1982)
  • Quarter-finals: once (5%; 1958)

World Cup tournaments

1930 in Uruguay to 1938 in France

In the period before the Second World War, the British football associations had not yet consented to professional players taking part in football World Cups. The Northern Irish national team therefore took part neither in the 1930 World Cup nor in the qualifying competitions for the World Cup finals in 1934 and 1938 .

1950 in Brazil

In 1950 the British teams wanted to participate for the first time and the British Home Championships served as qualification . FIFA offered the first two teams to play in the finals in Brazil , but Scotland only wanted to go to the World Cup as winners. Northern Ireland finished third together with Wales and failed to qualify. England went to the World Cup as the winner, Scotland waived as second as announced.

1954 in Switzerland

Again, the British Home Championship 1953/54 were also the qualification for the World Cup finals and Northern Ireland could not qualify as third again, while Scotland participated this time as runner-up with the victorious English team.

1958 in Sweden

Scene from the first World Cup game between Northern Ireland and Czechoslovakia

For the first time Northern Ireland competed against other European teams in the qualification and surprisingly prevailed against Italy and Portugal . The Northern Irish also benefited from the London fog, because this prevented the referee scheduled for the qualifying game against Italy from arriving in Belfast on December 4, 1957 . The game was then declared a friendly because it was directed by a Northern Irish referee and rescheduled for January 15, 1958. With the 2-2 in the friendly game Northern Ireland would have been eliminated. With the 2-1 win on January 15, 1958, Northern Ireland had one point more than the Italians.

In the finals , for which the other British teams had also qualified for the only time to date and each was drawn into a different group, Northern Ireland met Czechoslovakia in their first World Cup match and won the first Northern Irish World Cup achieved by Wilbur Cush. Goal with 1-0. In the second game, the Northern Irish met South American champions Argentina and took the lead 1-0 in the third minute with a goal from Peter McParland . However, the South Americans were able to equalize in the 38th minute with a converted penalty and win the game 3-1 in the second half. In the last game, the Northern Irish faced defending champions Germany and had to accept a 2-2 despite being led by McParland twice. After three games they were level on points with the Czechoslovaks and since neither the goals scored nor the direct comparison had any influence, there was a playoff that the Northern Irish won 2-1 after extra time, again with two goals from McParland. Just two days later they met France in the quarter-finals and went down - also due to the short convalescence period - 4-0. Northern Ireland said goodbye to the World Cup for 24 years. With five goals, McParland was fourth-best goalscorer along with Vavá . Since all teams that had reached the quarter-finals through play-offs were eliminated there, this rule was deleted at the next World Cup and the goal difference was introduced as a decision criterion.

1962 in Chile

Northern Ireland could not qualify for the third World Cup in South America . In a group with Germany and Greece , the Germans won all games, while Northern Irish and Greeks only won their home games against each other.

1966 in England

For the World Cup in England , the Northern Irishman in a group with the should Switzerland , the Netherlands and Albania qualify . The Northern Irish won all their home games and also scored a point in Rotterdam with a goalless draw, gambled away the qualification on the last matchday with a 1-1 draw in Albania, which meant they had one point less than the Swiss, against whom they had lost in Lausanne . Since Scotland and Wales could not qualify for the World Cup either, the automatically qualified English were the only British World Cup participants.

1970 in Mexico

For the first World Cup finals in Central America, the USSR and Turkey were drawn against the Northern Irish as opponents of the qualification . Northern Ireland won the first two games against Turkey, but in the home game against the USSR they only managed a goalless draw in spite of constant attacks and lost the decisive game for group victory in Moscow 2-0.

1974 in Germany

Again Northern Ireland could not World Cup finals for the qualifying . In a group with Bulgaria , Portugal and Cyprus only ranked third and even lost in Cyprus, whereby Cyprus won a World Cup qualifier for the first time.

1978 in Argentina

Northern Ireland was also unable to qualify for the fourth World Cup in South America . This time the Northern Irish failed to runner-up world champions Netherlands and Belgium and even lost against the bottom group Iceland , for whom it was their first victory in a World Cup qualifier.

1982 in Spain

For the first time, the European qualification was mainly carried out in groups of five, with the two best group qualifying for the final round. Northern Ireland qualified as runners-up behind Scotland and ahead of Sweden , Portugal and Israel . The qualification on the last day of the match was made perfect by a 1-0 win against Israel.

In Spain, the Northern Irish fought 0-0 against the more highly rated Yugoslavs in the first group game . In the second game they had to be satisfied with a 1-1 draw against newcomers to the World Cup, Honduras . In the last group game they won against hosts Spain (1-0) for the first time , surprisingly becoming group winners and reaching the intermediate round with groups of three (2nd final round), which was only held at this World Cup. Here they met Austria in the first game and came to a 2-2. Three days later they lost 4-1 to the French, who had a six-day break after their first game.

1986 in Mexico

For the second World Cup in Mexico , Northern Ireland qualified second behind England, ahead of Romania , Finland and Turkey . The qualification only succeeded on the last day of the game with a goalless draw in London against the already qualified Englishmen.

In Mexico, the Northern Irish did not get beyond a 1-1 draw against Algeria in the first group match , then lost 2-1 to Spain and finally 3-0 to record world champions Brazil . They were eliminated with the same number of points as Algeria as the worst third party in the group and said goodbye to the World Cup for at least 32 years. It was the last World Cup in which three British teams took part. Like Northern Ireland, Scotland was eliminated in the preliminary round, while England was eliminated in the quarter-finals against eventual world champions Argentina .

1990 in Italy

The Northern Irish finished fourth behind Spain, Ireland and Hungary in qualifying for the second World Cup in Italy . Both games could only be won against Malta, and a point was won with a 0-0 home game against the southern neighbor, who qualified for the World Cup for the first time. More was not possible.

1994 in the United States

Northern Ireland could not qualify for the World Cup in the USA either. In a seventh qualifying group with again Spain and Ireland, Denmark , Lithuania , Latvia and Albania , they finished only fourth with five points behind the Irish, who again qualified as second behind Spain.

1998 in France

To qualify for the second World Cup in France, Northern Ireland was drawn into a group with European champions Germany , Ukraine , Armenia , Portugal and Albania . For the Northern Irish, the qualification started badly: with a 0-1 home defeat against Ukraine and a 1-1 home game against Armenia. The 1: 1 in Germany was a small ray of hope. After that, however, it was only enough to win against Albania. In the remaining games there were only draws and defeats. In the end, only the fifth place jumped out.

2002 in Japan and South Korea

Four years later, it was only fifth place again in qualifying for the first World Cup in Asia . Denmark and the Czech Republic , which failed in the group runners-up play-offs to Belgium , Bulgaria and Iceland ended up ahead of Northern Ireland, which only won both games against Malta and the home game against Iceland.

2006 in Germany

In qualifying for the second World Cup in Germany , Northern Ireland once again only served as a point supplier. At least 4th place this time jumped out behind England, Poland and Austria . Only Wales and Azerbaijan were worse than the Northern Irish. After all, after 33 years, they managed to win again against England.

2010 in South Africa

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Africa, the Northern Irish met Slovakia in a group of six , which was able to qualify for the first time, Slovenia , the Czech Republic , Poland and San Marino . And again it was only enough for 4th place.

2014 in Brazil

Four years later, in qualifying for the second World Cup in Brazil, only fifth place was possible. In the group with Portugal, Russia , Israel , Azerbaijan and Luxembourg , the Northern Irish, who have been coached by Michael O'Neill since 2011 , were able to slow the Russians briefly with a 1-0 home win, but they even lost in Azerbaijan and Luxembourg. O'Neill remained in office and two years later led the Northern Irish for the first time to a European Championship finals, in which they reached the second round.

2018 in Russia

In the qualification that started in September 2016 , Northern Ireland faced defending champions Germany , the Czech Republic , Norway , Azerbaijan and San Marino . The Northern Irish had previously played against Azerbaijan four times in the qualifications for the 2006 and 2014 World Cups, winning and losing once each and drawing twice. Germany are the fifth most popular opponents of the Northern Irish, but only two games could be won, with nine defeats and four draws before the start of qualification. Both played against each other in the qualifications for the World Championships in 1962 and 1998 and also met in the group stage of the Euro 2016, in which Germany won 1-0. Against Norway there was only one win and seven defeats in eight previous games, but not yet a World Cup qualifier. San Marino is the only opponent against whom Northern Ireland has a positive record with two wins - both in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Against the Czech Republic, there were only two draws and two defeats in the qualifications for the 2002 and 2010 World Cup.

The Northern Irish started with a goalless draw in the Czech Republic, but then won three home games without conceding a goal and only lost 2-0 to the defending champions. After half of the games they were in second place, five points behind Germany. They were able to secure second place with three wins without conceding a goal in the second half of the season. In the penultimate game they met Germany again and if the Germans won and then lost their last game against Azerbaijan and their own victory in Norway, they could have overtaken the defending champions. Northern Ireland lost both games, while Germany won both games and were group winners by 11 points. Northern Ireland now had to play in the playoff games of the runners-up against the best runners-up, Switzerland. After a 0-1 home defeat, the goalless draw in the second leg was not enough to reach the finals.

player

Ranking of Northern Irish World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Billy Hamilton , David McCreery , Sam McIlroy , Jimmy Nicholl and Norman Whiteside 8 in 2 tournaments

06th time Donaghy and Pat Jennings 7 in 2 tournaments

09. Gerry Armstrong 6 in 3 tournaments

Ranking of Northern Irish World Cup players with the most goals

01. Peter McParland 5 goals

02. Gerry Armstrong 3 goals

03. Billy Hamilton 2 goals

World Cup captains

• 1958: Danny Blanchflower
• 1982: Martin O'Neill
• 1986: Sammy McIlroy

Players banned from World Championships

• 1982: In the last game of the first round against Spain, Mal Donaghy received the red card and was suspended for the first game of the second round.

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

At the first World Cup participation, the Northern Irish only traveled with players who played as legionaries in England and Scotland. Three Northern Ireland players were on call only, as were two England players, Sammy Chapman and Len Graham . In 1982 there were four players active in Northern Ireland in the squad and in 1986 only substitute goalkeeper Jim Platt , who was not used.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1958 (5)	17/15 (in England, 2 in Scotland)	Billy Bingham (5), Danny Blanchflower (5), Tommy Casey (2), Sammy Chapman , Fay Coyle (1), Willie Cunningham (5), Wilbur Cush (5), Derek Dougan (1, Len Graham , Harry Gregg ( 4), Dick Keith (5), Sammy McCrory (0), Jimmy McIlroy (5), Alf McMichael (5), Peter McParland (5), Jackie Scott (2), Norman Uprichard (1); Bertie Peacock (4) , Billy Simpson (5)
1982 (5)	18 (15 in England, 1 in Canada, 1 in Scotland, 1 in the USA)	Gerry Armstrong (5), Noel Brotherston (2), Bobby Campbell (0), Thomas Cassidy (1), Mal Donaghy (4), Tommy Finney (0), Billy Hamilton (5), Pat Jennings (4), Sammy McIlroy (5), Sammy Nelson (2), Chris Nicholl (5), John O'Neill (1), Martin O'Neill (5), Jim Platt (1), Norman Whiteside (5); Jimmy Nicholl (5); John McClelland (5); David McCreery (5)
1986 (3)	21 (in England)	Gerry Armstrong (1), David Campbell (1), Mark Caughey (0), Colin Clarke (3), Mal Donaghy (3), Billy Hamilton (3), Phil Hughes (0), Pat Jennings (3), John McClelland (0), David McCreery (3), Alan McDonald (3), Sammy McIlroy (3), Bernard McNally (0), Jimmy Nicholl (3), John O'Neill (3), Steve Penney (2), Jimmy Quinn (0), Paul Ramsey (3), Ian Stewart (3), Norman Whiteside (3), Nigel Worthington (2)

Games

The Northern Irish have played 13 World Cup games so far. Of these, three were won, five lost and five ended in a draw. A draw game had to be extended because a winner had to be determined. The game was then won in extra time.

The Northern Irish never took part in the opening game and had to face the hosts once: in 1982 in the preliminary round.

The Northern Irish never played against the eventual world champions.

Northern Ireland has played twice against Czechoslovakia, France and Spain. All other World Cup finals have been unique so far.

In 1958 in the preliminary round, the Northern Irish played against the defending champions.

The Northern Irish faced a newcomer to the World Cup once: 1982 (Honduras)

All World Cup games
No.	date	opponent	Result	occasion		venue	Remarks
1	06/08/1958	Czechoslovakia	1-0	Preliminary round	*	Halmstad ( SWE )	First international match against Czechoslovakia
2	06/11/1958	Argentina	1: 3	Preliminary round	*	Halmstad ( SWE )	First international match against Argentina
3	06/15/1958	BR Germany (TV)	2: 2	Preliminary round	*	Malmo ( SWE )	First international match against Germany
4th	06/17/1958	Czechoslovakia	2: 1 a.d.	Preliminary round	*	Malmo ( SWE )	Decision game for second place in the group
5	06/19/1958	France	0: 4	Quarter finals	*	Norrkoping ( SWE )
6th	06/17/1982	Yugoslavia	0-0	1. Final round	*	Zaragoza ( ESP )
7th	06/21/1982	Honduras	1: 1	1. Final round	*	Zaragoza ( ESP )	First international match against Honduras
8th	06/25/1982	Spain	1-0	1. Final round	A.	Valencia ( ESP )
9	07/01/1982	Austria	2: 2	2nd final round	*	Madrid ( ESP )	First international match against Austria
10	07/04/1982	France	1: 4	2nd final round	*	Madrid ( ESP )
11	06/03/1986	Algeria	1: 1	Preliminary round	*	Guadalajara ( MEX )	First international match against Algeria
12	06/07/1986	Spain	1: 2	Preliminary round	*	Guadalajara ( MEX )
13	06/12/1986	Brazil	0: 3	Preliminary round	*	Guadalajara ( MEX )	First international match against Brazil

Highest victories and defeats

The three World Cup victories of the Northern Irish team were their highest victories against these countries:

•  Spain . 1st final round 1982 1-0 (also a 3-2 in the European Championship qualification 1984)
•  Czechoslovakia : preliminary round 1958 1-0 and 2-1 a.d. (only games against Czechoslovakia)

The Northern Irish team suffered their biggest defeats at World Cup tournaments against the following countries:

•  Argentina : preliminary round 1958 1: 3 (only game against Argentina)
•  Brazil : preliminary round 1986 0-3 (only game Brazil)
•  France : quarter-finals 1958 0-4 (also a 0-4 in a friendly)

Records

• Youngest player to play at a World Cup: Norman Whiteside at the age of 17 years and 41 days at the 1982 World Cup.
• Goalkeeper Pat Jennings was the oldest player used at the 1986 World Cup at the age of 41. In the meantime, his record has been exceeded. From 2014 to 2018 the Colombian Faryd Mondragón was the record holder, since 2018 the Egyptian Essam El-Hadary at 45 years and 161 days - both also goalkeepers.

Negative record

• Biggest defeats in a quarter-finals after the preliminary round (only 1954 to 1970): Northern Ireland - France, 1958 and Uruguay - Germany, both 0: 4 in 1966

See also

• Football World - Statistics - Northern Ireland on fifa.com
• fifa.com: "Statistical overview: records and milestones"

References and footnotes

1. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930-2014 (PDF; 200 kB)
2. ↑ fifa.com: Italy against Sweden, Switzerland against Northern Ireland