Who apologised for his handball foul which helped eliminate Ireland from the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals?
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Second Round on this matter, Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given said: "Sports Illustrated"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Gabriele Marcotti gave the opinion that "FIFA is pretty much changing the rules halfway through the qualifying tournament." The eight teams were seeded according to the FIFA World Rankings released on 16 October (shown in parentheses in the table below). France won 2–1 on aggregate and qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Ireland officially asked FIFA for the second leg to be replayed after Thierry Henry clearly handled the ball twice during the build-up to the French goal. This request was denied. Ireland eventually pursued legal action
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