This year, the FIFA World Cup tournament will take place in Qatar. A host of teams from around the globe will descend on the country to see who becomes the world champion. However, when it comes to football, Northern Ireland has only made it past the qualifying stages three times. Below, we give our rundown of the three times Northern Ireland made it to the World Cup and how well they fared.
Sweden ’58
With Northern Ireland narrowly missing Qatar 2022, its nearest qualifying neighbours are England and Wales. Those who click here will see the odds are favourable for England, who are 13/2 on to win according to BetUK. Wales is not fancied at an outside 90/1.
The 1958 World Cup was unique in being the only one to feature England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland was in a group with West Germany, Argentina and Czechoslovakia. They won their first game and were then beaten by Argentina. However, that team would bizarrely end up bottom of the group with Northern Ireland taking second place after a playoff battle with Czechoslovakia.
In the quarter-final, they would take a 4 – 0 defeat at the hands of France. Although the team had shown promise and that they were capable of qualifying for a World Cup despite being from a small country, they would not qualify for another 14 years.
Spain ’82
The 12th FIFA World Cup was the second for Northern Ireland after a long hiatus. Held in Spain, it would be Italy who would claim their third title. Ran by head coach Billy Bingham, the team would head out hopeful.
Drawn in a group with Yugoslavia, Honduras and Spain, Northern Ireland cleared the group stage without losing a match. They drew with Yugoslavia and Honduras, then beat the host nation 1 – 0. In the second round, they would draw with Austria, showing a strong run.
In a repeat of Sweden 1958, the team would crash out to France. A 75th-minute goal by Armstrong was too little too late, as four goals in total from the French went into the back of the net, sending the team home.
Mexico ’86
Spurred on by the team’s performance in 1982, hopes were high as Billy Bingham took his team back to the World Cup once more. This time, the competition played out in the heat of Mexico. It would come to be one of the most memorable World Cup competition’s in history, mostly down to Argentina’s win with legendary player Maradona on their side.
The odds were stacked against the team in the group stages. As well as Algeria, Brazil and Spain were in the selection. This time, Northern Ireland failed to repeat its win over the Spaniards and lost 2 – 1. A draw with Algeria in the first match gave them some hope, but the last match against the fancied Brazil ended in a 3 – 0 defeat, meaning they failed to make it out of the group stage.
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