The Northern Ireland national football team have appeared in the finals of the FIFA World Cup on three occasions.

Their best World Cup performance was in their first appearance in the finals, the 1958 World Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals after beating Czechoslovakia 2–1 in the play-off. They were knocked out by France, losing 4–0. In the 1958 competition Northern Ireland became the least populous country to have qualified for the World Cup, a record that stood until Trinidad & Tobago qualified for the 2006 World Cup. Northern Ireland remains, however, the least populous country to have qualified for more than one World Cup finals tournament, to win a World Cup finals match, to have scored at a World Cup finals, and to have progressed from the first round of the World Cup finals.

Captain of the national side at the 1958 World Cup was Danny Blanchflower, who also captained Tottenham Hotspur in the English league and was twice footballer of the year in England. His younger brother Jackie was also a key member of the national team, and won two league titles in England with Manchester United, until his career was ended by injuries suffered in the Munich air disaster of February 1958.

Despite the presence of world class forward George Best, another Manchester United player, for most of the 1960s and into the 1970s, Northern Ireland failed to qualify for any major tournaments during this time.

Northern Ireland also qualified for the 1982 World Cup. Their opening game was against Yugoslavia at the La Romareda in Zaragoza. It was the international debut of 17-year-old Norman Whiteside who became the youngest player ever in the World Cup finals, a record that still stands. The game finished goalless. Five days later they drew 1–1 with Honduras, which was a disappointment, and many believed had doomed Northern Ireland's chances of advancing in the competition. ^[1] They needed a win against hosts Spain in the third and final group game at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia. They faced a partisan atmosphere with a mostly Spanish crowd and a Spanish speaking referee in Héctor Ortiz who was unwilling to punish dirty play from the Spanish players. ^[2] However a mistake from goalkeeper Luis Arconada gifted Gerry Armstrong the only goal of the game, and despite having Mal Donaghy sent off on 60 minutes, Northern Ireland went on to record an historic 1–0 win and top the first stage group.

A 2–2 draw with Austria at the Vicente Calderón Stadium meant that a win against France would take them into the semi-finals, however a French team inspired by Michel Platini won 4–1 and eliminated Northern Ireland from the competition.

In the 1986 World Cup, they reached the first round. Billy Bingham, a member of the 1958 squad, was manager for both of these tournaments.

Record at the FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter
1934
1938
1950	Did not qualify
1954
1958	Quarter-finals	8th	5	2	1	2	6	10
1962	Did not qualify
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982	Second round	9th	5	1	3	1	5	7
1986	Group stage	21st	3	0	1	2	2	6
1990	Did not qualify
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026	To be determined
2030
2034
Total	Quarter-finals	3/25	13	3	5	5	13	23

*Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

By Match

World Cup	Round	Opponent	Score	Result	Venue	Scorers
1958	Group stage	Czechoslovakia	1–0	W	Halmstad	W. Cush
		Argentina	1–3	L	Halmstad	P. McParland
		West Germany	2–2	D	Malmö	P. McParland (2)
		Czechoslovakia	2–1 ( a.e.t.)	W	Malmö	P. McParland (2)
	Quarter-finals	France	0–4	L	Norrköping	—
1982	Group stage	Yugoslavia	0–0	D	Zaragoza	—
		Honduras	1–1	D	Zaragoza	G. Armstrong
		Spain	1–0	W	Valencia	G. Armstrong
	Second round	Austria	2–2	D	Madrid	B. Hamilton (2)
		France	1–4	L	Madrid	G. Armstrong
1986	Group stage	Algeria	1–1	D	Guadalajara	N. Whiteside
		Spain	1–2	L	Guadalajara	C. Clarke
		Brazil	0–3	L	Guadalajara	—

Record by Opponent

FIFA World Cup matches (by team)
Opponent	Wins	Draws	Losses	Total	Goals Scored	Goals Conceded
Algeria	0	1	0	1	1	1
Argentina	0	0	1	1	1	3
Austria	0	1	0	1	2	2
Brazil	0	0	1	1	0	3
Czechoslovakia	2	0	0	2	3	1
France	0	0	2	2	1	8
Honduras	0	1	0	1	1	1
Spain	1	0	1	2	2	2
West Germany	0	1	0	1	2	2
Yugoslavia	0	1	0	1	0	0

Northern Ireland at Sweden 1958

First round

Group 1

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
West Germany	3	1	2	0	7	5	1.40	4
Northern Ireland	3	1	1	1	4	5	0.80	3
Czechoslovakia	3	1	1	1	8	4	2.00	3
Argentina	3	1	0	2	5	10	0.50	2

8 June 1958

19:00 CET

Northern Ireland	1 – 0	Czechoslovakia
Cush 21'	Report

Örjans Vall, Halmstad

Attendance: 10,647

Referee: Seipelt ( Austria)

11 June 1958

19:00 CET

Argentina	3 – 1	Northern Ireland
Corbatta 37' ( pen.) Menéndez 56' Avio 60'	Report	McParland 4'

Örjans Vall, Halmstad

Attendance: 14,174

Referee: Ahlner ( Sweden)

Play-off

17 June 1958

19:00 ( CET)

Northern Ireland	2–1 ( a.e.t.)	Czechoslovakia
McParland 44', 97'	Report	Zikán 18'

Malmö Stadion, Malmö

Attendance: 6,196

Referee: Guigue ( France)

15 June 1958

19:00 CET

West Germany	2 – 2	Northern Ireland
Rahn 20' Seeler 78'	Report	McParland 18', 60'

Malmö Stadion, Malmö

Attendance: 21,990

Referee: Campos ( Portugal)

Quarter-final 1958 World Cup

19 June 1958

19:00 CET

France	4 – 0	Northern Ireland
Wisnieski 22' Fontaine 55', 63' Piantoni 68'	Report

Idrottsparken, Norrköping

Attendance: 12,000

Referee: Gardeazabal ( Spain)

Northern Ireland at 1982 World Cup

Squad

Head coach: Billy Bingham

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
1	1 GK	Pat Jennings	(1945-06-12)12 June 1945 (aged 37)		Arsenal
2	2 DF	Jimmy Nicholl	(1956-02-28)28 February 1956 (aged 26)		Toronto Blizzard
3	2 DF	Mal Donaghy	(1957-09-13)13 September 1957 (aged 24)		Luton Town
4	3 MF	David McCreery	(1957-09-16)16 September 1957 (aged 24)		Tulsa Roughnecks
5	2 DF	Chris Nicholl	(1946-10-12)12 October 1946 (aged 35)		Southampton
6	2 DF	John O'Neill	(1958-03-11)11 March 1958 (aged 24)		Leicester City
7	3 MF	Noel Brotherston	(1956-11-18)18 November 1956 (aged 25)		Blackburn Rovers
8	3 MF	Martin O'Neill (c)	(1952-03-01)1 March 1952 (aged 30)		Norwich City
9	4 FW	Gerry Armstrong	(1954-05-23)23 May 1954 (aged 28)		Watford
10	3 MF	Sammy McIlroy	(1954-08-02)2 August 1954 (aged 27)		Stoke City
11	4 FW	Billy Hamilton	(1957-05-09)9 May 1957 (aged 25)		Burnley
12	2 DF	John McClelland	(1955-12-07)7 December 1955 (aged 26)		Rangers
13	2 DF	Sammy Nelson	(1949-04-01)1 April 1949 (aged 33)		Brighton
14	3 MF	Tommy Cassidy	(1950-11-18)18 November 1950 (aged 31)		Burnley
15	3 MF	Tommy Finney	(1952-11-06)6 November 1952 (aged 29)		Cambridge United
16	3 MF	Norman Whiteside	(1965-05-07)7 May 1965 (aged 17)		Manchester United
17	1 GK	Jim Platt	(1952-01-26)26 January 1952 (aged 30)		Middlesbrough
18	3 MF	Johnny Jameson	(1958-03-11)11 March 1958 (aged 24)		Glentoran
19	4 FW	Felix Healy	(1955-09-27)27 September 1955 (aged 26)		Coleraine
20	3 MF	Jim Cleary	(1956-05-27)27 May 1956 (aged 26)		Glentoran
21	4 FW	Bobby Campbell	(1956-09-13)13 September 1956 (aged 25)		Bradford City
22	1 GK	George Dunlop	(1956-01-16)16 January 1956 (aged 26)		Linfield

Matches

17 June 1982

21:00 CEST

Yugoslavia	0–0	Northern Ireland
	Report

La Romareda, Zaragoza

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Erik Fredriksson ( Sweden)

21 June 1982

21:00 CEST

Honduras	1–1	Northern Ireland
Laing 60'	Report	Armstrong 10'

La Romareda, Zaragoza

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: Chan Tam Sun ( Hong Kong)

25 June 1982

21:00 CEST

Spain	0–1	Northern Ireland
	Report	Armstrong 47'

Estadio Luis Casanova, Valencia

Attendance: 49,562

Referee: Héctor Ortiz ( Paraguay)

1 July 1982 (second round)

17:15 CEST

Austria	2–2	Northern Ireland
Pezzey 50' Hintermaier 68'	Report	Hamilton 27', 75'

Estadio Vicente Calderón, Madrid

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Adolf Prokop ( East Germany)

4 July 1982 (second round)

17:15 CEST

Northern Ireland	1–4	France
Armstrong 75'	Report	Giresse 33', 80' Rocheteau 46', 68'

Estadio Vicente Calderón, Madrid

Attendance: 37,000

Referee: Alojzy Jarguz ( Poland)

Northern Ireland at 1986 World Cup

Squad

Head coach: Billy Bingham

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
1	1 GK	Pat Jennings	(1945-06-12)12 June 1945 (aged 40)		Tottenham Hotspur
2	2 DF	Jimmy Nicholl	(1956-12-28)28 December 1956 (aged 29)		West Bromwich Albion
3	2 DF	Mal Donaghy	(1957-09-13)13 September 1957 (aged 28)		Luton Town
4	2 DF	John O'Neill	(1958-03-11)11 March 1958 (aged 28)		Leicester City
5	2 DF	Alan McDonald	(1963-10-12)12 October 1963 (aged 22)		Queens Park Rangers
6	3 MF	David McCreery	(1957-09-16)16 September 1957 (aged 28)		Newcastle United
7	3 MF	Steve Penney	(1964-01-16)16 January 1964 (aged 22)		Brighton
8	3 MF	Sammy McIlroy (c)	(1954-08-02)2 August 1954 (aged 31)		Manchester City
9	4 FW	Jimmy Quinn	(1959-11-18)18 November 1959 (aged 26)		Blackburn Rovers
10	3 MF	Norman Whiteside	(1965-05-07)7 May 1965 (aged 21)		Manchester United
11	4 FW	Ian Stewart	(1961-09-10)10 September 1961 (aged 24)		Newcastle United
12	1 GK	Jim Platt	(1952-01-26)26 January 1952 (aged 34)		Coleraine
13	1 GK	Philip Hughes	(1964-11-19)19 November 1964 (aged 21)		Bury
14	4 FW	Gerry Armstrong	(1954-05-23)23 May 1954 (aged 32)		Tottenham Hotspur
15	3 MF	Nigel Worthington	(1961-11-04)4 November 1961 (aged 24)		Sheffield Wednesday
16	3 MF	Paul Ramsey	(1962-09-03)3 September 1962 (aged 23)		Leicester City
17	4 FW	Colin Clarke	(1962-10-30)30 October 1962 (aged 23)		Bournemouth
18	2 DF	John McClelland	(1955-12-07)7 December 1955 (aged 30)		Watford
19	4 FW	Billy Hamilton	(1957-05-09)9 May 1957 (aged 29)		Oxford United
20	2 DF	Bernard McNally	(1963-02-17)17 February 1963 (aged 23)		Shrewsbury Town
21	3 MF	David Campbell	(1965-06-02)2 June 1965 (aged 20)		Nottingham Forest
22	4 FW	Mark Caughey	(1960-08-31)31 August 1960 (aged 25)		Linfield

Matches

3 June 1986

12:00 CST

Algeria	1 – 1	Northern Ireland
Zidane 59'	Report	Whiteside 6'

Estadio Tres de Marzo, Guadalajara

Attendance: 22,000

Referee: Valeri Butenko ( Soviet Union)

7 June 1986

12:00 CST

Northern Ireland	1 – 2	Spain
Clarke 46'	Report	Butragueño 1' Salinas 18'

Estadio Tres de Marzo, Guadalajara

Attendance: 28,000

Referee: Horst Brummeier ( Austria)

12 June 1986

12:00 CST

Northern Ireland	0 – 3	Brazil
	Report	Careca 15', 87' Josimar 42'

Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara

Attendance: 51,000

Referee: Siegfried Kirschen ( East Germany)

Record players

One of Northern Ireland's record World Cup players, Norman Whiteside, also holds the record for the youngest player ever to appear in the tournament. When he was fielded against Yugoslavia, he was only 17 years and 41 days old.

Top goalscorers

See also

• Northern Ireland at the UEFA European Championship

References