Republic of Ireland World Cup Information

Latest Republic of Ireland Football News

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

About the Republic of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland team made its debut at the 1924 Olympics reaching the quarter finals. Between 1924 and 1936 the team competed as the Irish Free State and from then until 1953 it was referred to by the FAI as Ireland. The current name was adopted after a FIFA ruling to disambiguate it from the Ireland team run by the IFA, which is now known as Northern Ireland.

Under the guidance of Jack Charlton and his successor Mick McCarthy the team enjoyed its most successful era, qualifying for Euro 88, reaching the quarterfinals of the 1990 World Cup and making the last sixteen at both the 1994 and 2002 World Cups.

The side was the first team from outside the UK to defeat England on home soil, at a fixture played at Goodison Park, Liverpool in 1949. The team also reached the quarterfinals of the 1964 European Nations' Cup.
Traditionally, the team plays in a home strip of green shirt, white shorts and green socks.

Competitive history

For many years, the Republic of Ireland had seen qualification for major tournaments elude them.

A 2–0 win over England at Goodison Park on September 21, 1949, was the first time England suffered a home defeat by a team outside the Home Countries of Scotland, Wales and the Ireland team run by the Belfast based Irish FA.

The 1958 World Cup qualifiers saw the Republic of Ireland drawn with England. In their home game against England, Alf Ringstead put the hosts 1-0 up before John Atyeo equalised in the last minute to salvage a 1-1 draw for England. Under the rules of the day, a win for the Republic of Ireland would have meant a play-off with England for a place in the World Cup.

After reaching the quarter-finals of the 1964 European Nations' Cup, the Republic of Ireland were drawn to face Spain and Syria in the 1966 World Cup qualifiers. Despite Syria's withdrawal, this was still considered a qualifying group with the Irish winning 1-0 at home and losing 4-1 away. This meant a play-off in Paris, which Spain won 1-0 to take their place in the 1966 World Cup. The play-off was originally scheduled to take place at Wembley Stadium in London, home to a large Irish diaspora, but the FAI agreed with the Spanish FA to have the match moved to Paris, where a large Spanish diaspora lived.

A run of poor results in the late 1960s and early 1970s followed until Johnny Giles became player-manager in the 1970s. This was followed by the debut of a young Liam Brady and results improved markedly. The side missed out on the 1978 World Cup by only 2 points, having defeated France at home.

Eoin Hand took over as the 1982 World Cup qualifiers got under way, and once more the Republic of Ireland narrowly missed out on qualification, this time on goal difference behind France who they had defeated at home once more. However, disappointing qualifying campaigns for both the 1984 European Championship and 1986 World Cup followed, and cost Hand his job.

In the late 1980s the Republic of Ireland took on Jack Charlton, a top rated English manager and World Cup winner as a player. He had recently built Middlesbrough into a side which provided many players to the Liverpool team of the time. He influenced changes in the Republic of Ireland team which went on to produce a comparatively successful spell of its history, qualifying for two World Cups and a European Championship.

The Republic of Ireland's longest competitive winning streak was achieved in 1989 during the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. Five games against Spain, Northern Ireland, Hungary and Malta twice, were all wins for the Irish. Subsequently the side made it to Italia '90, and reached the quarter finals. During the tournament the team had an audience with Pope John Paul II, and were the only team to do so.

Despite missing out on the 1992 European Championships, the Republic of Ireland qualified for USA '94, beating an opponent from the last World Cup, Italy, in their opening game. The side made it to the second round, eventually going down 2-0 to Netherlands. After the Republic of Ireland narrowly missed out on Euro '96, Jack Charlton was replaced by Mick McCarthy but still missed out on the next two major tournaments. He did manage to lead the side to Japan and Korea in 2002, once again going out in the second round, this time to Spain on penalties.

After a poor start to qualifying for Euro 2004, McCarthy was replaced by Brian Kerr but he also struggled to guide the side to the tournament or the following World Cup in Germany. Kerr was then replaced by Steve Staunton in early 2006. Under Staunton, results varied widely but the team still failed to qualify for Euro 2008 and Staunton was sacked in late 2007. Giovanni Trapattoni was then appointed following a spell with assistant coach Don Givens in charge. Trapattoni has been in charge for three friendly games and is unbeaten so far, with the most recent 1-1 draw coming against Norway in Scandinavia.