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- Sweden 1958 - Spain 1982 - Mexico 1986 -
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- Finals -
- Sweden 1958 - Spain 1982 - Mexico 1986 -
In 1958 Northern Ireland qualified for the World Cup for the first time. Finishing top of a qualifying group containing European giants Italy and Portugal, the Irish battled their way to the quarter-finals in Sweden - the smallest country ever to make it to the last eight of the World Cup...
Qualifying Group 8 (Europe)
16-01-1957 Portugal.. 1-1 N. Ireland [Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon]
25-04-1957 Italy..... 1-0 N. Ireland [Stadio Olympico, Rome]
01-05-1957 N. Ireland 3-0 Portugal.. [Windsor Park, Belfast]
26-05-1957 Portugal.. 3-0 Italy..... [Estádio Nacional, Lisbon]
22-12-1957 Italy..... 3-0 Portugal.. [San Siro, Milan]
12-01-1958 N. Ireland 2-1 Italy..... [Windsor Park, Belfast]
Rank
|
Team
|
Pts
|
Pld
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GAv
|
1
|
Northern Ireland
|
5
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
6
|
3
|
2.00
|
2
|
4
|
4
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
5
|
5
|
1.00
|
|
3
|
3
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
7
|
0.57
|
Finals
First Round - Group A
08-06-1958 N. Ireland ... 1-0 Czechoslovakia [Halmstad, Örjans Vall]
08-06-1958 West Germany.. 3-1 Argentina..... [Malmö, Malmö Stadion]
11-06-1958 Argentina..... 3-1 N. Ireland ... [Halmstad, Örjans Vall]
11-06-1958 West Germany.. 2-2 Czechoslovakia [Hälsingborg, Olympiavalle]
15-06-1958 West Germany.. 2-2 N. Ireland ... [Malmö, Malmö Stadion]
15-06-1958 Czechoslovakia 6-1 Argentina..... [Hälsingborg, Olympiavalle]
Rank
|
Team
|
Pld
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GAv
|
Pts
|
1
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
7
|
5
|
1.40
|
4
|
|
2=
|
Northern Ireland
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
4
|
5
|
0.80
|
3
|
2=
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
8
|
4
|
2.00
|
3
|
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
5
|
10
|
0.50
|
2
|
Play-Off
17-06-1958 N. Ireland 2-1 Czecho'kia [aet] [Malmö, Malmö Stadion]
Quarter-Finals
19-06-1958 France.... 4-0 N. Ireland [Norrköping, Idrottsparken]
Squad of Players
No.
|
Pos
|
Name
|
Age
|
Club -
Country)
|
1
|
GK
|
25
|
Manchester
United - ENG
|
|
2
|
DF
|
28
|
Leicester
City - ENG
|
|
3
|
DF
|
30
|
Newcastle
United - ENG
|
|
4
|
MD
|
32
|
Tottenham
Hotspur - ENG captain
|
|
5
|
DF
|
25
|
Newcastle
United - ENG
|
|
6
|
MD
|
29
|
Celtic
- SCO
|
|
7
|
FW
|
26
|
Sunderland
- ENG
|
|
8
|
MD
|
29
|
Leeds
United - ENG
|
|
9
|
FW
|
28
|
Rangers
- SCO
|
|
10
|
FW
|
26
|
Burnley
- ENG
|
|
11
|
FW
|
24
|
Aston
Villa - ENG
|
|
12
|
GK
|
30
|
Portsmouth
- ENG
|
|
13
|
MD
|
28
|
Newcastle
United - ENG
|
|
14
|
FW
|
24
|
Grimsby
Town - ENG
|
|
15
|
FW
|
33
|
Southend
United - ENG
|
|
16
|
FW
|
20
|
Portsmouth
- ENG
|
|
17
|
FW
|
25
|
Nottingham
Forest - ENG
|
|
18
|
GK
|
25
|
Glenavon
|
|
19
|
DF
|
32
|
Doncaster
Rovers - ENG
|
|
20
|
MF
|
20
|
Portsmouth
- ENG
|
|
21
|
DF
|
24
|
Linfield
|
|
22
|
FW
|
??
|
Coleraine
|
Manager: Peter Doherty (Bristol City - ENG)
Trainer: Gerry Morgan.(Linfield)
The following are some of the players included in the initial squad of forty (if you can help to complete the list please get in touch):
Goalkeeper - Victor Hunter (Coleraine)
Backs - Paddy Corr (Glenavon), Tommy Lucas (Glentoran), Billy Marshall (Burnley), Billy Wilson (Linfield)
Forwards - John Crossan (Derry City), Jimmy Jones (Glenavon), Ed Nash (Derry City), Charlie Tully (Celtic), Jimmy Walker (Portadown)
 |  |  |  |
The signed postcard above was sent from Sweden to site contributor George Glass by the 1958 squad. Tournament souvenir programme scan kindly forwarded by Tommy Don. For pictures of the individual match programmes click here. Stamp collection sourced by Clackity Films.
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