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
Slovenia at the FIFA World Cup three World Cup matches for Slovenia. That means no less than 21 players share their record as Slovenia's record World Cup player: Five Slovenian players scored one goal each at FIFA World Cups. Slovenia at the FIFA World Cup Slovenia has appeared in the finals of the FIFA World Cup on two occasions in 2002 and 2010. Prior to 1991 the country was part of Yugoslavia; see Yugoslavia national football team for records up to this point. From 1930 to 1990, Slovenia competed as part of Yugoslavia. They reached third place at the inaugural World Cup, and fourth place in