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
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4 The 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group 4 was a UEFA qualifying group for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The group comprised 2006 FIFA World Cup hosts Germany along with Russia, Finland, Wales, Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein. The group was won by Germany, who qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The runners-up Russia entered the UEFA play-off stage. The fixtures for the group were determined on 10 January 2008, after a meeting between representatives of each nation in Frankfurt, Germany. The August 2009 date in the international match calendar was