NIFG

Northern Ireland have played at the World Cup Finals on three occasions, 1958 , 1982 and 1986 . These teams have achieved the stuff of legend - Northern Ireland are the smallest European country to qualify for the tournament finals and the smallest country in the world to make it beyond the first round stage. In Sweden 58 they drew with reigning champions West Germany and in Spain 82 defeated the hosts in a must-win game, each time coming within one game of the semi-finals. At Mexico 86 an aging Northern Ireland team held their own in a group containing the brilliant Brazilians. In World Cup Finals matches Northern Ireland have used a total of 38 players, the 24 below have appeared in three or more games. Of course this list excludes the names of some of Northern Ireland's greatest ever players; men such as Peter Doherty, George Best and David Healy who never had the opportunity to appear on the world's biggest stage and make their marks on the i

-   Most Capped  -  Top Goalscorers  -  Youngest Players  -  Oldest Players  - -  Premier Players  -  Cup Finalists  -  Award Winners  -  Million Pound Men  - -  Olympians  -  Dual Internationals  -  Captains  -  Goalkeepers  -  One Cap Wonders  - What is the absolute measure of a goalscorer; total goals or goals to game ratio? Certainly, in Ireland's early days of international football it was difficult for a player to build up a significant number of caps as there were generally only three matches per season, and so some of the more prolific players of this era get forgotten when only totals are analysed. Some more recent players may have had their international careers curtailed by injury, by a falling-out with the "management" or because they were over-looked in favour of the "bigger names" of their era. Scoring ratios for Northern Ireland players with more than five international goals... Player Career Caps Goals Ra