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
Spain at the FIFA World Cup Spain at the FIFA World Cup This is a record of Spain's results at the FIFA World Cup. Spain is one of only eight countries ever to have won the FIFA World Cup, which it did at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in South Africa, the first time the team had reached the final. The team is one of the most present at the World Cup finals, with 15 appearances out of the 21 tournaments. Spain reached fourth-place in 1950, and has reached the quarter-finals four times. The Spanish team has also won three UEFA European Football Championships, in 1964,