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
Mexico at the FIFA World Cup Mexico at the FIFA World Cup This is a record of the results of the Mexico national football team at the FIFA World Cup. The World Cup is the premier competitive international football tournament, first played in 1930, and then every four years since, except 1942 and 1946, due to World War II. The Mexico national team has competed in the tournament since the inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup, and has entered ever since, for a total of 16 tournaments, although it has failed to qualify for the finals proper on 3 occasions: 1934 (Italy), 1974 (West Germany), and 1982