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
Tunisia at the FIFA World Cup second match. Their final group game resulted in a 2–0 defeat to co-hosts Japan, meaning they were knocked out in the group stages yet again. "All times local (UTC+9)" Tunisia drew their opening game against Saudi Arabia 2–2, but lost their second match to Spain 3–1 and lost their last group match to Ukraine 1–0, ending their 2006 FIFA World Cup campaign. "All times local (CEST/UTC+2)" Tunisia at the FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, sometimes called the Football World Cup or the Soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international association