Northern Ireland national football team

General

Kit history

Northern Ireland
Nickname(s)	Green and White Army, Norn Iron
Association	Irish Football Association
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Michael O'Neill
Asst coach	Jimmy Nicholl
Captain	Conor Bradley
Most caps	Steven Davis (140)
Top scorer	David Healy (36)
Home Stadium	Windsor Park
FIFA code	NIR
FIFA ranking	59 (December 2022)
Highest FIFA ranking	20 (September 2017)
Lowest FIFA ranking	129 (September 2012)
Elo ranking	74 (September 2022)
Highest Elo ranking	5 (1882) as Northern Ireland 14 (May 1986)
Lowest Elo ranking	114 (October 2013)
First international	Ireland 0–13 England (Belfast; 18 February 1882) as Northern Ireland Northern Ireland 1–4 England (Belfast; 7 October 1950)
Biggest win	Ireland 7–0 Wales (Belfast; 1 February 1930) as Northern Ireland Northern Ireland 5–0 Cyprus (Belfast; 21 April 1971) Faroe Islands 0–5 Northern Ireland (Landskrona; 11 September 1991)
Biggest defeat	Ireland 0–13 England (Belfast; 18 February 1882) as Northern Ireland Netherlands 6–0 Northern Ireland (Amsterdam; 2 June 2012)
World Cup appearances	3 (First in 1958)
Best result	Quarter-finals, 1958
European Championship appearances	1 (First in 2016)
Best result	Round of 16, 2016

The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. From 1882 to 1920, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association (IFA). In 1921, the jurisdiction of the IFA was reduced to Northern Ireland following the secession of clubs in the soon-to-be Irish Free State, although its team remained the national team for all of Ireland until 1950, and used the name Ireland until the 1970s. The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) organises the separate Republic of Ireland national football team.

Although part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland has always had a representative side that plays in major professional tournaments – whether alongside the rest of Ireland pre-1922 or as its own entity - though not in the Olympic Games, as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has always recognised United Kingdom representative sides.

Northern Ireland has competed in three FIFA World Cups, reaching the quarter-final stage in the 1958 and 1982 tournaments. Northern Ireland held the accolade of being the smallest nation to qualify for a World Cup Finals from their first appearance in 1958 until 2006, when Trinidad and Tobago qualified for the 2006 World Cup. At UEFA Euro 2016, the team made its first appearance at the European tournament and reached the round of 16.

FIFA World Cup history

Northern Ireland has qualified for the FIFA World Cup on three occasions — the first being the 1958 edition. They happened to make it to the knockout stages after winning a play-off against the Czechoslovakia national football team, which they won thanks to a brace by Peter McParland to make a comeback. Yet, they got trashed 4–0 by the France national football team in the quarter-finals.

Northern Ireland's next World Cup happened to be 1982 edition, which happened to be 24 years later. They started the 1982 World Cup in a goalless draw against the Yugoslavia national football team. At the time, the latter was known for having an astonishing national team. They next faced Honduras, which ended in a 1–1 draw because of Eduardo Laing and Gerry Armstrong goals. In a 1–0 win against the Spain national football team, the aforementioned Armstrong scored the one and only goal of the match, which not only won the game, but also qualified them for the second group stage. They finished 3rd of Group D in the second group stage based on goal difference.

They started their last World Cup, the 1986 edition, in a 1–1 draw against the Algeria national football team because of Djamel Zidane and Norman Whiteside. They also lost to the aforementioned Spain with Emilio Butragueño and Julio Salinas goals with a Colin Clark goal in the 46th minute for the GAWA. After that, they were knocked out after losing 3–0 against the Brazil national football team with a brace by Careca and a Josimar goal.

UEFA European Championship history

Northern Ireland's first qualification for the UEFA European Championship was in the 2016 edition. They got Group C alongside Germany, Poland, and Ukraine. Their first Euros match was a 1–0 defeat against Poland by a Arkadiusz Milik goal. They next played Ukraine, which they won 2–0 by Gareth McAuley and Niall McGinn goals. They did qualify for the knockout stage even though they lost 1–0 to Germany after a lone Mario Gómez goal. In the knockout stage they faced Wales, which they lost because of a McAuley own goal.

Fixtures and results

2022

International Friendly 25 March	Luxembourg	1–3	Northern Ireland	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
19:15 GMT Match 669	Da Graça  58'	Report	Magennis  16' Davis  83' Whyte  85'	Stadium: Stade de Luxembourg Referee: Daniel Schlager (Germany)

International Friendly 29 March	Northern Ireland	0–1	Hungary	Belfast, Northern Ireland
19:45 BST Match 670		Report	Sallai  55'	Stadium: Windsor Park Referee: Rob Harvey (Republic of Ireland)

2022–23 UEFA Nations League C 2 June	Northern Ireland	0–1	Greece	Belfast, Northern Ireland
19:45 BST Match 671		Report	Bakasetas  39'	Stadium: Windsor Park Attendance: 16,977 Referee: Erik Lambrechts (Belgium)

2022–23 UEFA Nations League C 5 June	Cyprus	0–0	Northern Ireland	Larnaca, Cyprus
17:00 BST Match 672		Report		Stadium: AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis Attendance: 1,663 Referee: Enea Jorgji (Albania)

2022–23 UEFA Nations League C 9 June	Kosovo	3–2	Northern Ireland	Pristina, Kosovo
19:45 BST Match 673	Muriqi  9' (pen.), 52' Bytyqi  19'	Report	Lavery  44' Ballard  83'	Stadium: Fadil Vokrri Stadium Attendance: 11,700 Referee: Jakob Kehlet (Denmark)

2022–23 UEFA Nations League C 12 June	Northern Ireland	2–2	Cyprus	Belfast, Northern Ireland
14:00 BST Match 674	McNair  71' J. Evans  90+4'	Report	Kakoullis  32', 51'	Stadium: Windsor Park Attendance: 16,454 Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea (Spain)

2022–23 UEFA Nations League C 24 September	Northern Ireland	2–1	Kosovo	Belfast, Northern Ireland
17:00 BST Match 675	Whyte  82' Magennis  90+3'	Report	Muriqi  58'	Stadium: Windsor Park Attendance: 17,148 Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)

2022–23 UEFA Nations League C 27 September	Greece	3–1	Northern Ireland	Athens, Greece
19:45 BST Match 676	Pelkas  14' Masouras  55' Mantalos  80'	Report	Lavery  18'	Stadium: Agia Sophia Stadium Attendance: 5,871 Referee: Filip Glova (Slovakia)

2023

UEFA Euro 2024 Group H Qualifier 23 March	San Marino	v	Northern Ireland	Serravalle, San Marino
19:45 GMT Match 677		Report		Stadium: Stadio Olimpico de Serravalle

UEFA Euro 2024 Group H Qualifier 26 March	Northern Ireland	v	Finland	Belfast, Northern Ireland
19:45 BST Match 678		Report		Stadium: Windsor Park

UEFA Euro 2024 Group H Qualifier 16 June	Denmark	v	Northern Ireland	Copenhagen, Denmark
19:45 BST Match 679		Report		Stadium: Parken Stadium

UEFA Euro 2024 Group H Qualifier 19 June	Northern Ireland	v	Kazakhstan	Belfast, Northern Ireland
19:45 BST Match 680		Report		Stadium: Windsor Park

UEFA Euro 2024 Group H Qualifier 7 September	Slovenia	v	Northern Ireland	Ljubljana, Slovenia
19:45 BST Match 681		Report		Stadium: Stožice Stadium

UEFA Euro 2024 Group H Qualifier 10 September	Kazakhstan	v	Northern Ireland	Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
14:00 BST Match 682		Report		Stadium: Astana Arena

UEFA Euro 2024 Group H Qualifier 14 October	Northern Ireland	v	San Marino	Belfast, Northern Ireland
14:00 BST Match 683		Report		Stadium: Windsor Park

UEFA Euro 2024 Group H Qualifier 17 October	Northern Ireland	v	Slovenia	Belfast, Northern Ireland
19:45 BST Match 684		Report		Stadium: Windsor Park

UEFA Euro 2024 Group H Qualifier 17 November	Finland	v	Northern Ireland	Helsinki, Finland
17:00 GMT Match 685		Report		Stadium: Helsinki Olympic Stadium

UEFA Euro 2024 Group H Qualifier 20 November	Northern Ireland	v	Denmark	Belfast, Northern Ireland
19:45 GMT Match 686		Report		Stadium: Windsor Park

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League matches against Kosovo on 24 September and Greece on 27 September.

Caps and goals updated as of 27 September 2022, after the match against Greece.

#	Pos	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Bailey Peacock-Farrell	29 October 1996 (1996-10-29)	35	0	Burnley
12	1GK	Conor Hazard	5 March 1998 (1998-03-05)	4	0	HJK Helsinki
23	1GK	Luke Southwood	6 December 1997 (1997-12-06)	1	0	Cheltenham Town
5	2DF	Jonny Evans	3 January 1988 (1988-01-03)	100	5	Leicester City
17	2DF	Paddy McNair	27 April 1995 (1995-04-27)	58	6	Middlesbrough
11	2DF	Shane Ferguson	12 July 1991 (1991-07-12)	56	2	Rotherham United
3	2DF	Jamal Lewis	25 January 1998 (1998-01-25)	28	0	Newcastle United
4	2DF	Tom Flanagan	21 October 1991 (1991-10-21)	15	0	Shrewsbury Town
22	2DF	Ciaron Brown	14 January 1998 (1998-01-14)	12	0	Oxford United
2	2DF	Conor Bradley	9 July 2003 (2003-07-09)	10	0	Bolton Wanderers
19	2DF	Paddy Lane	18 February 2001 (2001-02-18)	3	0	Fleetwood Town
10	2DF	Kofi Balmer	19 September 2000 (2000-09-19)	0	0	Crystal Palace
8	3MF	Steven Davis (captain)	1 January 1985 (1985-01-01)	140	13	Rangers
13	3MF	Corry Evans	17 July 1990 (1990-07-17)	70	2	Sunderland
6	3MF	George Saville	1 June 1993 (1993-06-01)	42	0	Millwall
15	3MF	Jordan Thompson	3 January 1997 (1997-01-03)	26	0	Stoke City
16	3MF	Ali McCann	4 December 1999 (1999-12-04)	16	1	Preston North End
20	3MF	Shea Charles	5 November 2003 (2003-11-05)	4	0	Manchester City
7	3MF	Conor McMenamin	24 August 1995 (1995-08-24)	4	0	Glentoran
21	4FW	Josh Magennis	15 May 1990 (1990-05-15)	69	10	Wigan Athletic
18	4FW	Gavin Whyte	31 January 1996 (1996-01-31)	29	5	Cardiff City
9	4FW	Shayne Lavery	8 December 1998 (1998-12-08)	17	3	Blackpool
14	4FW	Dion Charles	7 October 1995 (1995-10-07)	13	0	Bolton Wanderers

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up to the Northern Ireland squad during the last 12 months.

COVID = Player withdrew due to a positive COVID test or from being in close contact with someone with a positive COVID test. INJ = Withdrew due to an injury. PRE = Preliminary squad / standby. RET = Retired from the national team. SUS = Suspended from national team. WTD = Withdrew due to other reasons. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up GK Trevor Carson 5 March 1988 (1988-03-05) 8 0 St Mirren v. Cyprus, 12 June 2022 GK Josh Clarke 28 July 2004 (2004-07-28) 0 0 Celtic v. Cyprus, 12 June 2022 GK Dermot Mee 20 November 2002 (2002-11-20) 0 0 Manchester United Training camp in May 2022 DF Daniel Ballard 22 September 1999 (1999-09-22) 16 2 Sunderland v. Cyprus, 12 June 2022 DF Brodie Spencer 6 May 2004 (2004-05-06) 3 0 Huddersfield Town v. Cyprus, 12 June 2022 DF Trai Hume 18 March 2002 (2002-03-18) 2 0 Sunderland v. Cyprus, 12 June 2022 DF Sam McClelland 4 January 2002 (2002-01-04) 1 0 Barrow Training camp in May 2022 DF Sean Stewart 21 January 2003 (2003-01-21) 0 0 Norwich City Training camp in May 2022 DF Michael Forbes 29 April 2004 (2004-04-29) 0 0 West Ham United Training camp in May 2022 DF Ruairi McConville 1 May 2005 (2005-05-01) 0 0 Brighton & Hove Albion Training camp in May 2022 DF Craig Cathcart 6 February 1989 (1989-02-06) 69 2 Watford v. Hungary, 29 March 2022 MF Niall McGinn 20 July 1987 (1987-07-20) 73 6 Dundee v. Cyprus, 12 June 2022 MF Liam Donnelly 7 March 1996 (1996-03-07) 4 0 Kilmarnock v. Cyprus, 12 June 2022 MF Alfie McCalmont 25 March 2000 (2000-03-25) 4 0 Leeds United v. Cyprus, 12 June 2022 MF Caolan Boyd-Munce 26 January 2000 (2000-01-26) 0 0 Middlesbrough v. Cyprus, 12 June 2022 MF Charlie McCann 24 April 2002 (2002-04-24) 0 0 Rangers v. Cyprus, 12 June 2022 MF Oisin Smyth 5 May 2000 (2000-05-05) 0 0 Oxford United Training camp in May 2022 MF Barry Baggley 11 January 2002 (2002-01-11) 0 0 Fleetwood Town Training camp in May 2022 MF Terry Devlin 6 March 2003 (2003-03-06) 0 0 Glentoran Training camp in May 2022 MF Charlie Allen 22 November 2003 (2003-11-22) 0 0 Leeds United Training camp in May 2022 MF Darren Robinson 29 December 2004 (2004-12-29) 0 0 Derby County Training camp in May 2022 MF Stuart Dallas 19 April 1991 (1991-04-19) 62 3 Leeds United v. Hungary, 29 March 2022 MF Matty Kennedy 1 November 1994 (1994-11-01) 3 0 Aberdeen v. Luxembourg, 25 March 2022 INJ FW Kyle Lafferty 16 September 1987 (1987-09-16) 89 20 Kilmarnock v. Kosovo, 24 June 2022 WTD FW Conor Washington 18 May 1992 (1992-05-18) 35 6 Rotherham United v. Cyprus, 5 June 2022 INJ FW Paul Smyth 10 September 1997 (1997-09-10) 3 1 Leyton Orient Training camp in May 2022 Current coaching staff Position Name Manager Michael O'Neill Assistant Manager Jimmy Nicholl Coaching Assistant Tommy Johnson Goalkeeping Coach Roy Carroll Head Physiotherapist Caroline Woods Kit Manager Raymond Millar Alumni Former players Main List of Northern Ireland international players Managers Main List of Northern Ireland international managers Honours Former squads Main Northern Ireland national football team World Cup and European Championship squads FIFA World Cup squads 1958 FIFA World Cup squad 1982 FIFA World Cup squad 1986 FIFA World Cup squad UEFA European Football Championship squads UEFA Euro 2016 squad External links Irish Football Association – Northern Ireland Football official site Northern Ireland Stats & Statistics RSSSF archive of international results 1882– RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers Football in Northern Ireland League competitions The IFA Cup competitions NIFL Premiership Northern Ireland (B) Irish Cup NIFL Championship (U-21) (U-20) (U-19) Irish League Cup Intermediate League (U-18) (U-17) (U-16) County Antrim Shield Ballymena & Provincial List of clubs Mid-Ulster Cup Northern Amateur Football League List of stadiums Mid-Ulster Football League (by capacity) List of competitions International football FIFA · World Cup · Confederations Cup · U-20 World Cup · U-17 World Cup · Minor tournaments · World Rankings · Player of the Year · Teams · Competitions · Federations · Codes Confederation Competitions AFC Asian Cup CAF Africa Cup of Nations CONCACAF Gold Cup CONMEBOL Copa América OFC Nations Cup UEFA European Championship Non-FIFA N.F.-Board · Viva World Cup National football teams of Europe (UEFA) Albania · Andorra · Armenia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · England · Estonia · Faroe Islands · Finland · France · Georgia · Germany · Gibraltar · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Republic of Ireland · Israel · Italy · Kazakhstan · Kosovo · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Moldova · Montenegro · Netherlands · North Macedonia · Northern Ireland · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia · San Marino · Scotland · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey · Ukraine · Wales Northern Ireland Northern Irish competitions Northern Irish coaches Northern Irish players Northern Irish stadiums Northern Ireland squads FIFA World Cup 1958 · 1982 · 1986 UEFA Euro 2016 Northern Ireland – 1958 FIFA World Cup 1. Gregg 2. Cunningham 3. McMichael 4. Blanchflower 5. Keith 6. Peacock 7. Bingham 8. Cush 9. Simpson 10. McIlroy 11. McParland 12. Uprichard 13. Casey 14. Scott 15. McCrory 16. Dougan 17. Coyle 18. Rea 19. Graham 20. Chapman 21. Hamill 22. Trainor Manager:   Peter Doherty Northern Ireland – 1982 FIFA World Cup 1. Jennings 2. J. Nicholl 3. Donaghy 4. McCreery 5. C. Nicholl 6. J. O'Neill 7. Brotherston 8. M. O'Neill 9. Armstrong 10. McIlroy 11. Hamilton 12. McClelland 13. Nelson 14. Cassidy 15. Finney 16. Whiteside 17. Platt 18. Jameson 19. Healy 20. Cleary 21. Campbell 22. Dunlop Manager:   Billy Bingham Northern Ireland – 1986 FIFA World Cup 1. Jennings 2. Nicholl 3. Donaghy 4. O'Neill 5. McDonald 6. McCreery 7. Penney 8. McIlroy 9. Quinn 10. Whiteside 11. Stewart 12. Platt 13. Hughes 14. Armstrong 15. Worthington 16. Ramsey 17. Clarke 18. McClelland 19. Hamilton 20. McNally 21. Campbell 22. Caughey Manager:   Billy Bingham Northern Ireland – UEFA Euro 2016 – Round of 16 1. McGovern 2. McLaughlin 3. Ferguson 4. McAuley 5. J. Evans 6. Baird 7. McGinn 8. Davis (c) 9. Grigg 10. Lafferty 11. Washington 12. Carroll 13. C. Evans 14. Dallas 15. McCullough 16. Norwood 17. McNair 18. Hughes 19. Ward 20. Cathcart 21. Magennis 22. Hodson 23. Mannus Manager:   Michael O'Neill