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

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
Morocco Portugal Spain 2030
Saudi Arabia 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

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 8' (Report) Sheedy 73'
Stadio Sant'Elia, Cagliari
Attendance: 35,238
Referee: Aron Schmidhuber (West Germany)
Republic of Ireland 0–0 Egypt
(Report)
Stadio La Favorita, Palermo
Attendance: 33,288
Referee: Marcel Van Langenhove (Belgium)
Netherlands 1–1 Republic of Ireland
Gullit 10' (Report) Quinn 71'
Stadio La Favorita, Palermo
Attendance: 33,288
Referee: Michel Vautrot (France)

Knockout phase

Republic of Ireland 0 – 0 (a.e.t.) Romania
(Report)
Penalties
Sheedy soccer ball with check mark
Houghton soccer ball with check mark
Townsend soccer ball with check mark
Cascarino soccer ball with check mark
O'Leary soccer ball with check mark		 5–4 soccer ball with check mark Hagi
soccer ball with check mark Lupu
soccer ball with check mark Rotariu
soccer ball with check mark Lupescu
soccer ball with red X Timofte
Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
Attendance: 31,818
Referee: José Roberto Wright (Brazil)
Italy 1–0 Republic of Ireland
Schillaci 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 11'
Giants Stadium, East Rutherford
Attendance: 75,338
Referee: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands)
Mexico 2–1 Republic of Ireland
García 42' 65' (Report) Aldridge 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
Referee: José Torres Cadena (Colombia)

Knockout phase

Netherlands 2–0 Republic of Ireland
Bergkamp 11'
Jonk 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 52' (Report) Mboma 39'
Niigata Stadium, Niigata
Attendance: 33,679
Referee: Toru Kamikawa (Japan)
Germany 1–1 Republic of Ireland
Klose 19' (Report) Robbie Keane 90+2'
Kashima Soccer Stadium, Kashima
Attendance: 35,854
Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)
Saudi Arabia 0–3 Republic of Ireland
(Report) Robbie Keane 7'
Breen 61'
Duff 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 8' (Report) Robbie Keane 90' (pen.)
Penalties
Hierro soccer ball with check mark
Baraja soccer ball with check mark
Juanfran soccer ball with red X
Valerón soccer ball with red X
Mendieta soccer ball with check mark		 3–2 soccer ball with check mark Robbie Keane
soccer ball with red X Holland
soccer ball with red X Connolly
soccer ball with red X Kilbane
soccer ball with check mark Finnan
Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon
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

Republic of Ireland national football team
Countries at the FIFA World Cup
Categories