Republic of Ireland at the FIFA World Cup

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The Republic of Ireland have appeared in the FIFA World Cup on three occasions, in 1990, 1994, and 2002. They have always advanced from the group stage but have never advanced beyond the quarter-finals. Ireland hold the record for getting furthest in the tournament without winning a match.

Their first appearance was in Italy at the 1990 FIFA World Cup.[1][2][3][4][5] 1990 was also their best performance in a major championship, where they reached the quarter-finals.[6][7][8]

Overall record[]

FIFA World Cup record Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA Position
Uruguay 1930 Did not enter Declined participation
Italy 1934 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 6 9 3/3
France 1938 2 0 1 1 5 6 2/2
Brazil 1950 4 1 1 2 6 7 2/3
Switzerland 1954 4 2 0 2 8 6 2/3
Sweden 1958 4 2 1 1 6 7 2/3
Chile 1962 4 0 0 4 3 17 3/3
England 1966 3 1 0 2 2 5 Lost Play-off
Mexico 1970 6 0 1 5 3 14 4/4
Germany 1974 4 1 1 2 4 5 2/3
Argentina 1978 4 1 1 2 2 4 3/3
Spain 1982 8 4 2 2 17 11 3/5
Mexico 1986 8 2 2 4 5 10 4/5
Italy 1990 Quarter-finals 8th 5 0 4 1 2 3 8 5 2 1 10 2 2/5
United States 1994 Round of 16 15th 4 1 1 2 2 4 12 7 4 1 19 6 2/7
France 1998 Did not qualify 12 5 4 3 24 11 2/6; Lost Play-off
South Korea Japan 2002 Round of 16 12th 4 1 3 0 6 3 12 8 3 1 25 6 2/6; Won Play-off
Germany 2006 Did not qualify 10 4 5 1 12 5 4/6
South Africa 2010 12 4 7 1 13 10 2/6; Lost Play-off
Brazil 2014 10 4 2 4 16 17 4/6
Russia 2018 12 5 5 2 13 11 2/6; Lost Play-off
Qatar 2022 8 2 3 3 11 8 3/5
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined To be determined
Total Quarter-finals 3/22 13 2 8 3 10 10 149 58 46 45 210 177 —
*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

1990 World Cup[]

Group F[]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 England 3 1 2 0 2 1 +1 4
 Republic of Ireland 3 0 3 0 2 2 0 3
 Netherlands 3 0 3 0 2 2 0 3
 Egypt 3 0 2 1 1 2 -1 2

Note: Republic of Ireland awarded second place by drawing of lots

England 1 – 1 Republic of Ireland
Lineker Goal 8' (Report) Sheedy Goal 73'
Attendance: 35,238
Referee: Aron Schmidhuber (West Germany)
Republic of Ireland 0 – 0 Egypt
(Report)
Attendance: 33,288
Referee: Marcel Van Langenhove (Belgium)
Netherlands 1 – 1 Republic of Ireland
Gullit Goal 10' (Report) Quinn Goal 71'
Attendance: 33,288
Referee: Michel Vautrot (France)

Knockout phase[]

Republic of Ireland 0 ��� 0 (a.e.t.) Romania
(Report)
Penalties
Sheedy Penalty scored
Houghton Penalty scored
Townsend Penalty scored
Cascarino Penalty scored
O'Leary Penalty scored		 5 – 4 Penalty scored Hagi
Penalty scored Lupu
Penalty scored Rotariu
Penalty scored Lupescu
Penalty missed Timofte
Attendance: 31,818
Referee: José Roberto Wright (Brazil)
Italy 1 – 0 Republic of Ireland
Schillaci Goal 38' (Report)
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Attendance: 73,303
Referee: Carlos Silva Valente (Portugal)

1994 World Cup[]

Group E[]

Main article: 1994 FIFA World Cup Group E
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Mexico 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
 Republic of Ireland 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
 Italy 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
 Norway 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 4
Italy 0 – 1 Republic of Ireland
(Report) Houghton Goal 11'
Giants Stadium, East Rutherford
Attendance: 75,338
Referee: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands)
Mexico 2 – 1 Republic of Ireland
García Goal 42' Goal 65' (Report) Aldridge Goal 84'
Citrus Bowl, Orlando
Attendance: 60,790
Referee: Kurt Röthlisberger (Switzerland)
Republic of Ireland 0 – 0 Norway
(Report)
Giants Stadium, East Rutherford
Attendance: 72,404

Knockout phase[]

Netherlands 2 – 0 Republic of Ireland
Bergkamp Goal 11'
Jonk Goal 41'		 (Report)
Citrus Bowl, Orlando
Attendance: 61,355
Referee: Peter Mikkelsen (Denmark)

2002 World Cup[]

Group E[]

Main article: 2002 FIFA World Cup - Group E
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Germany 3 2 1 0 11 1 +10 7
 Republic of Ireland 3 1 2 0 5 2 +3 5
 Cameroon 3 1 1 1 2 3 -1 4
 Saudi Arabia 3 0 0 3 0 12 -12 0
Republic of Ireland 1 – 1 Cameroon
Holland Goal 52' (Report) Mboma Goal 39'
Niigata Stadium, Niigata
Attendance: 33,679
Referee: Toru Kamikawa (Japan)
Germany 1 – 1 Republic of Ireland
Klose Goal 19' (Report) Robbie Keane Goal 90+2'
Attendance: 35,854
Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)
Saudi Arabia 0 – 3 Republic of Ireland
(Report) Robbie Keane Goal 7'
Breen Goal 61'
Duff Goal 87'
International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama
Attendance: 65,320
Referee: Falla N'Doye (Senegal)

Knockout phase[]

Spain 1 – 1 (a.e.t.) Republic of Ireland
Morientes Goal 8' (Report) Robbie Keane Goal 90' (pen.)
Penalties
Hierro Penalty scored
Baraja Penalty scored
Juanfran Penalty missed
Valerón Penalty missed
Mendieta Penalty scored		 3 – 2 Penalty scored Robbie Keane
Penalty missed Holland
Penalty missed Connolly
Penalty missed Kilbane
Penalty scored Finnan
Attendance: 38,926
Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden)

Record players[]

Defender Steve Staunton has represented the Irish team in all of their thirteen World Cup matches, captaining the side in 2002.

Rank Player Matches Tournaments
1 Steve Staunton 13 1990, 1994, 2002
2 Pat Bonner 9 1990, 1994
Ray Houghton 9 1990, 1994
Paul McGrath 9 1990, 1994
Andy Townsend 9 1990, 1994
6 John Aldridge 8 1990, 1994
7 Niall Quinn 7 1990, 2002
8 Tony Cascarino 6 1990, 1994
Gary Kelly 6 1994, 2002
Jason McAteer 6 1994, 2002

Goalscorers[]

Rank Player Goals Tournaments
1 Robbie Keane 3 2002
2 Niall Quinn 1 1990
Kevin Sheedy 1 1990
John Aldridge 1 1994
Ray Houghton 1 1994
Gary Breen 1 2002
Damien Duff 1 2002
Matt Holland 1 2002

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "1990 FIFA World Cup". Irish Independent. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Ireland's Italia '90 squad - where are they now?". RTE Sport. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  3. ^ "Niall Quinn: 'People can talk about the ramshackle Irish team, but we knew what the real story was'". Irish Examiner. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  4. ^ "24 World Cup memories we won't forget from Italia '90". The 42. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  5. ^ "On Second Thoughts: Italia 90". Guardian. 14 October 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  6. ^ "11 iconic images that bring back memories of the Italia 90 good times". The 42. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Where are Ireland's Italia 90 dream team now?". The 42. 16 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  8. ^ "Italia '90". Irish Times. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.

External links[]

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