Ireland’s opening games in the World Cup.

By Donal Cullen

            It’s an old axiom in football that if you make a good start to a competition the chances are that you will be there and about when the top places are up for grabs. It is not always so but as a point of interest lets look at Ireland’s starts to their World Cup qualifying campaigns.

 

1930 World Cup

            Ireland did not enter this competition even though they were invited to take part in the finals. So a bad start that would be!

 

1934 World Cup

            Ireland were placed in a group with Holland and Belgium – each of whom had lost every game played against the Irish Free State as they were then. Ireland’s first game, and indeed the groups first game, was at home to Belgium. Four goals by Paddy Moore were not enough to give Ireland a win as Belgium also scored four. This dropped point cost us a place in the finals. Another bad start.

 

1938 World Cup

            A two-legged tie against the amateur Norwegians with the winner going to the finals. The first leg was in Oslo and Ireland lost 3-2 but it could have been worse. This turned out to be another bad start as the second leg ended in a draw and Ireland were out.

 

1950 World Cup

            Ireland opened with an away game with the groups top team, Sweden, and lost by three goals to one. The other team in the group was Finland but the result in Stockholm meant Ireland had to beat Sweden at home to force a play off but they again lost 1-3. Sweden got to the finals having not even played their two games against Finland. So another bad start.

 

1954 World Cup

            Ireland’s opening game was against France who basically sealed their qualification by slaughtering Ireland 5-3. Ireland did beat Luxembourg twice but by that time France were on their way to Switzerland.

 

1958 World Cup

            At last a good start with a 2-1 win over Denmark at Dalymount Park. Denmark were the weak team in the group and the qualifiers would be decided by the games between Ireland and England. The English won the first at Wembley and Ireland almost forced a play-off by winning the second match but were denied by an injury time goal. However a good start and in the end we were in with a shout of a play-off.

 

1962 World Cup

            Ireland opened with a trip to Glasgow to play Scotland and were beaten 1-4. This put us on the back foot for the rest of the tournament as The Scots and the Czechs fought it out for the finals place – the Czechs got there after a play-off. Ireland lost all four games – our worst ever showing.

 

1966 World Cup

            Ireland were in a group with Spain and Syria but the African’s withdrew leaving the two to battle it out for a place in England. Ireland made their best start ever with a 1-0 win at Dalymount. Ireland lost the second leg 4-1 but it still meant a play-off which should have been in London but the FAI took the Spanish cash and played the game in Paris which the Spanish won 1-0. A great start.

 

1970 World Cup

            Ireland opened with a game against Denmark which was abandoned after 51 minutes with the score at 1-1. The result did not matter as the tie had to be replayed. So Ireland opening game in this group was against the powerful Czechs at home. Ireland lost 1-2 and basically never were in the competition from then on. A poor start.

 

1974 World Cup

            Ireland again opened with another 1-2 defeat at home to the USSR who stolled through the group. Ireland did pick up three out of four points against the other team in the group, France, but again the poor start cost us.

 

1978 World Cup

            It was off to Paris for the opening game of this World Cup at a time when Ireland couldn’t win away from home. France won 2-0 and it was home records that were to count. France picked up maximum points from their home games to qualify while Ireland and Bulgaria each dropped on home point which cost them both. A reasonable start all the same.

 

1982 World Cup

            A trip to Cyprus in those days usually meant full pints but Ireland had their work cut out to beat the Cypriots and came away with a 3-2 win – our first World Cup away win since beating Denmark in 1957. It was Johnny Giles’s last match as manager as he resigned soon after. Eoin Hand took over and almost brought us to the World Cup fianls in a tight group. A dropped point a home to Belgium probably cost us the group but there was also away goals ruled out in Paris and Brussels which could have gotton us there. A good start and a great finish.

 

1986 World Cup

            A brilliant start with a 1-0 win over the USSR but it went downhill after that. No away wins nor an away goal and dropped points against Denmark and Norway left us in the wilderness once again. A great start though.

 

1990 World Cup

            After a great showing in Euro 88, Jack Charlton’s Ireland’s first game in the World Cup was away to Northern Ireland. A scoreless draw was not a great result considering that Spain and Hungary were both to win there but Big Jack’s side was only to drop four points overall in group play to get us to our first ever finals. So possibly a good start.

 

1994 World Cup

            Jack’s second World Cup began with a reasonable 2-0 win over Albania. Dropped home points against Denmark and Spain meant we had to go back to Northern Ireland to get a point to qualify. Ireland came away with a 1-1 draw and were on their way to the USA. Ireland’s start was as good as we were expected to beat the likes of Albania.

 

1998 World Cup

            Mick McCarthy was handed an “easy” group to qualify from when he took over from Jack Charlton. It began with our biggest away win ever – a 5-0 win over Liechtenstein. Dropped home points against Iceland and Lithuania as well as a dreadful 2-3 defeat in Macedonia cost us dearly but we still qualified from our group to force a play-off against Belgium which we lost 3-2 over two legs. We had a great start though.

 

2002 World Cup

            This was the campaign which most newspapers said would force McCarthy to resign. Holland and Portugal were expected to qualify and Ireland first match was against the Dutch in Amsterdam. Ireland came away with a 2-2 draw which was a tremendous result. The group went right to the wire before Ireland beat Holland and Cyprus in their last two games to qualify for the play off against Iran. Ireland won 2-1 over two legs and sent us all off on a magical tour of Japan and Korea. A brilliant start.

 

2006 World Cup

            Brian Kerr was in charge for Ireland’s last World Cup campaign which began with a 3-0 home win over Cyprus. Draws away to Switzerland and France sent us all wild but a series of draws meant that everyone was all equal in the final shake up. France and Switzerland with a win and draw in Ireland knock us and Israel out. Ireland, however had made another fine start

 

OUR RECORD IN OUR OPENING WORLD CUP GAMES

                                                W        D         L

Overall                                    7          3          7

Home                                      5          1          3

Away                                       2          2          4

 

NOTES

            The last four times Ireland has opened their World Cup campaigns with an away game they have come away with undefeated. A 3-2 win over Cyprus in WC82 was followed by a 0-0 draw in Northern Ireland  in WC 90. A 5-0 win over Liechtenstein and a 2-2 draw over Holland gave Mick McCarhty great starts in WC 98 and WC 02.

            Ireland have an undefeated record in their last seven opening World Cup games.

            Ireland biggest win in their opening World Cup match was a 5-0 away win over Leichtenstein while their heaviest opening game defeat was a 3-5 loss to France in the 1954 World Cup.

            Robbie Keane has scored in our last two opening World Cup games.