O'Neill was appointed manager of Northern Ireland on 28 December 2011, with one report stating he was "the first Catholic in 50 years to manage Northern Ireland". However, this is almost certainly untrue, since previous managers Lawrie Sanchez (2004–07) and Lawrie McMenemy (1998–99) were both educated in Roman Catholic schools. O'Neill's first game in charge ended in defeat with a 3–0 loss to Norway. In his next game an inexperienced Northern Ireland team were beaten 6–0 by the Netherlands in Amsterdam. During their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, Northern Ireland earned some creditable results, including a 1–1 draw away to Portugal and a 1–0 home win against Russia.