Republic of Ireland at the FIFA World Cup

The Republic of Ireland have appeared in the Men's 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.

Their first appearance was in Italy at the 1990 Men's FIFA World Cup.[1][2][3][4][5] 1990 was also their best performance in a major championship, where they reached the quarter-finals, despite not winning a single match in 90 minutes.[6][7][8]

Overall record edit

FIFA World Cup record Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA Position
  1930 Did not enter Declined participation
  1934 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 6 9 3/3
  1938 2 0 1 1 5 6 2/2
  1950 4 1 1 2 6 7 2/3
  1954 4 2 0 2 8 6 2/3
  1958 4 2 1 1 6 7 2/3
  1962 4 0 0 4 3 17 3/3
  1966 3 1 0 2 2 5 Lost Play-off
  1970 6 0 1 5 3 14 4/4
  1974 4 1 1 2 4 5 2/3
  1978 4 1 1 2 2 4 3/3
  1982 8 4 2 2 17 11 3/5
  1986 8 2 2 4 5 10 4/5
  1990 Quarter-finals 8th 5 0 4 1 2 3 8 5 2 1 10 2 2/5
  1994 Round of 16 15th 4 1 1 2 2 4 12 7 4 1 19 6 2/7
  1998 Did not qualify 12 5 4 3 24 11 2/6; Lost Play-off
    2002 Round of 16 12th 4 1 3 0 6 3 12 8 3 1 25 6 2/6; Won Play-off
  2006 Did not qualify 10 4 5 1 12 5 4/6
  2010 12 4 7 1 13 10 2/6; Lost Play-off
  2014 10 4 2 4 16 17 4/6
  2018 12 5 5 2 13 11 2/6; Lost Play-off
  2022 8 2 3 3 11 8 3/5
      2026 To be determined To be determined
      2030
  2034
Total Quarter-finals 3/25 13 2 8 3 10 10 149 58 46 45 210 177
*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

1990 World Cup edit

Group F edit

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   8' (Report) Sheedy   73'

Republic of Ireland  0–0  Egypt
(Report)

Netherlands  1–1  Republic of Ireland
Gullit   10' (Report) Quinn   71'
Attendance: 33,288

Knockout phase edit


Italy  1–0  Republic of Ireland
Schillaci   38' (Report)
Attendance: 73,303

1994 World Cup edit

Group E edit

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   11'

Mexico  2–1  Republic of Ireland
García   42'   65' (Report) Aldridge   84'
Attendance: 60,790

Republic of Ireland  0–0  Norway
(Report)

Knockout phase edit

Netherlands  2–0  Republic of Ireland
Bergkamp   11'
Jonk   41'
(Report)
Attendance: 61,355

2002 World Cup edit

Group E edit

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   52' (Report) Mboma   39'
Attendance: 33,679
Referee: Toru Kamikawa (Japan)

Germany  1–1  Republic of Ireland
Klose   19' (Report) Robbie Keane   90+2'

Saudi Arabia  0–3  Republic of Ireland
(Report) Robbie Keane   7'
Breen   61'
Duff   87'

Knockout phase edit

Record players edit

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 edit

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 edit

References edit

  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 edit