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 (or nations) over a period of about a month. The World Cup Finals is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 tournament final. Along with Brazil, Mexico holds the record for most consecutive 2nd round appearances. Mexico's record World Cup player, Rafael Márquez, and goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal have appeared in five FIFA World Cups each, a record they only share with German midfielder Lothar Matthäus. <noinclude> Mexico at the FIFA World Cup This is a record of the results of the Mexico national football team at the FIFA World