Northern Ireland at the FIFA World Cup Northern Ireland at the FIFA World Cup 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
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC) the fifth-placed team of CONMEBOL qualifying, Uruguay, in a home-and-away play-off. The winner of this play-off qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals. The following team from OFC qualified for the final tournament. 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC) Listed below are the dates and results for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for Oceania. 12 teams took part, competing for a place in the intercontinental play-off against the fifth-placed team from South America. The winner of this play-off qualified for the World Cup. This qualifying tournament also doubled as the 2004 OFC Nations Cup, up to the