Northern Ireland warns Italy: aiming for fourth World Cup

Northern Ireland hopes to reach its fourth World Cup participation in 2026, 40 years after the last one.

It debuted in the tournament in 1958 (after eliminating Italy of all places) with Peter Doherty’s team making it to the quarterfinals after coming through a group with West Germany, Argentina and Czechoslovakia. Wilbur Cush scored the 1-0 goal against the latter, with a playoff against the same opponent necessary to decide who would advance. Northern Ireland won again, this time 2-1 after extra time, thanks to a Peter McParland double, before losing 4-0 to France in the quarters.

He returned to the World Cup in 1982, without George Best, whose relationship with the national team never took off, but with a very young Norman Whiteside and Gerry Armstrong’s goal that earned a historic 1-0 win over host Spain and a berth in the next round. But it was France again that stopped the British: Michel Platini led the French to a 4-1 win that denied the team coached by the gritty Billy Bingham access to the semifinals.

Bingham also took Northern Ireland to the 1986 World Cup, but a poor showing by Sammy McIlroy and co. in Mexico, with a draw against Algeria and defeats to Spain and Brazil, led to a premature exit.