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
National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup teams have appeared in FIFA World Cup finals without winning, while eleven more have appeared in semi-finals. As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. 3 points per win, 1 point per draw and 0 points per loss. Source: The inaugural FIFA World Cup tournament in 1930 featured 13 teams. Since then, every instance of the competition has featured at least one team making their debut appearance. Except in 1934, host nations are granted an automatic spot in the World Cup