Republic of Ireland at the FIFA World Cup - wikipedia Republic of Ireland at the FIFA World Cup The Republic of Ireland have appeared in the finals of the FIFA World Cup on three occasions, in 1990, 1994 and 2002. They have always advanced from the first round. Ireland has the record for getting furthest in the tournament without winning a match. Their first appearance in the finals was in Italy at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. 1990 was also their best performance in a major championship, where they reached the quarter finals. Contents 1 FIFA World Cup record 2 Republic of Ireland at Italy 1990 2.1 Group F 2.2 Knockout phase 3 Republic of Ireland at USA 1994 3.1 Group E 3.2 Knockout phase 4 Republic of Ireland at Korea / Japan 2002 4.1 Group E 4.2 Knockout phase 5 Record players 6 Top goalscorers 7 See also 8 References 9 External links FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup Qualification record Year Round Position Pld D * GF GA Pld GF GA Position 1930 Did not enter -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1934 Did not qualify 0 6 9 3 / 3 1938 0 5 6 2 / 2 1950 6 7 2 / 3 1954 0 8 6 2 / 3 1958 6 7 2 / 3 1962 0 0 17 3 / 3 1966 0 5 Lost Playoff 1970 6 0 5 14 4 / 4 5 2 / 3 1978 3 / 3 1982 8 17 11 3 / 5 1986 8 5 10 4 / 5 1990 Quarter - finals 8th 5 0 8 5 10 2 / 5 1994 Round of 16 15th 12 7 19 6 2 / 7 1998 Did not qualify 12 5 25 11 2 / 6 Lost Playoff 2002 Round of 16 12th 0 6 12 8 25 6 2 / 6 Won Playoff 2006 Did not qualify 10 5 12 5 4 / 6 12 7 13 10 2 / 6 Lost Playoff 2014 10 16 17 4 / 6 2018 12 5 5 13 11 2 / 6 Lost Playoff 2022 To be determined To be determined 2026 Total Quarter - finals 3 / 21 13 8 10 10 141 56 43 42 199 169 ' * Draws include knockout matches decided by penalty shootout. show FIFA World Cup History Year Round Score Result Republic of Ireland scorers 1990 Round 1 Republic of Ireland 1 -- 1 England Draw Kevin Sheedy 73 ' Round 1 Republic of Ireland 1 -- 1 Netherlands Draw Niall Quinn 71 ' Round 1 Republic of Ireland 0 -- 0 Egypt Draw Round 2 Republic of Ireland 0 ( 5 ) -- 0 ( 4 ) Romania Draw Quarter - finals Republic of Ireland 0 -- 1 Italy Loss 1994 Round 1 Republic of Ireland 1 -- 0 Italy Win Ray Houghton 11 ' Round 1 Republic of Ireland 1 -- 2 Mexico Loss John Aldridge 84 ' Round 1 Republic of Ireland 0 -- 0 Norway Draw Round 2 Republic of Ireland 0 -- 2 Netherlands Loss 2002 Round 1 Republic of Ireland 1 -- 1 Cameroon Draw Matt Holland 52 ' Round 1 Republic of Ireland 1 -- 1 Germany Draw Robbie Keane 90 + 2 ' Round 1 Republic of Ireland 3 -- 0 Saudi Arabia Win Robbie Keane 7 ' Gary Breen 61 ' Damien Duff 87 ' Round 2 Republic of Ireland 1 ( 2 ) -- 1 ( 3 ) Spain Draw Robbie Keane 90 ' ( pen. ) Republic of Ireland at Italy 1990 Republic of Ireland squad -- 1990 FIFA World Cup 1 Bonner 2 Morris 3 Staunton 4 McCarthy ( c ) 5 Moran 6 Whelan 7 McGrath 8 Houghton 9 Aldridge 10 Cascarino 11 Sheedy 12 O'Leary 13 Townsend 14 Hughton 15 Slaven 16 Sheridan 17 Quinn 18 Stapleton 19 Kelly 20 Byrne 21 McLoughlin 22 Peyton Coach : Charlton Group F Team Pld GF GA GD Pts England 0 + 1 Republic of Ireland 0 0 0 Netherlands 0 0 0 Egypt 0 - 1 Note : Republic of Ireland awarded second place by drawing of lots 11 June 1990 21 : 00 England 1 -- 1 Republic of Ireland Lineker 8 ' ( Report ) Sheedy 73 ' Stadio Sant'Elia, Cagliari Attendance : 35,238 Referee : Aron Schmidhuber 17 June 1990 17 : 00 Republic of Ireland 0 -- 0 Egypt ( Report ) Stadio La Favorita, Palermo Attendance : 33,288 Referee : Marcel Van Langenhove 21 June 1990 21 : 00 Netherlands 1 -- 1 Republic of Ireland Gullit 10 ' ( Report ) Quinn 71 ' Stadio La Favorita, Palermo Attendance : 33,288 Referee : Michel Vautrot Knockout phase 25 June 1990 17 : 00 Republic of Ireland 0 -- 0 ( a.e.t. ) Romania ( Report ) Penalties Sheedy Houghton Townsend Cascarino O'Leary 5 -- 4 Hagi Lupu Rotariu Lupescu Timofte Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa Attendance : 31,818 Referee : José Roberto Wright 30 June 1990 21 : 00 Italy 1 -- 0 Republic of Ireland Schillaci 38 ' ( Report ) Stadio Olimpico, Rome Attendance : 73,303 Referee : Carlos Silva Valente Republic of Ireland at USA 1994 Republic of Ireland squad -- 1994 FIFA World Cup 1 Bonner 2 Irwin 3 Phelan 4 Moran 5 McGrath 6 Keane 7 Townsend ( c ) 8 Houghton 9 Aldridge 10 Sheridan 11 Staunton 12 G. Kelly 13 Kernaghan 14 Babb 15 Coyne 16 Cascarino 17 McGoldrick 18 Whelan 19 McLoughlin 20 D. Kelly 21 McAteer 22 A. Kelly Coach : Charlton Group E Main article : 1994 FIFA World Cup Group E Team Pld GF GA GD Pts Mexico 0 Republic of Ireland 0 Italy 0 Norway 0 18 June 1994 16 : 05 EDT Italy 0 -- 1 Republic of Ireland ( Report ) Houghton 11 ' Giants Stadium, East Rutherford Attendance : 75,338 Referee : Mario van der Ende 24 June 1994 12 : 35 EDT Mexico 2 -- 1 Republic of Ireland García 42 ' 65 ' ( Report ) Aldridge 84 ' Citrus Bowl, Orlando Attendance : 60,790 Referee : Kurt Röthlisberger 28 June 1994 12 : 35 EDT Republic of Ireland 0 -- 0 Norway ( Report ) Giants Stadium, East Rutherford Attendance : 72,404 Referee : José Torres Cadena Knockout phase 4 July 1994 12 : 05 EDT Netherlands 2 -- 0 Republic of Ireland Bergkamp 11 ' Jonk 41 ' ( Report ) Citrus Bowl, Orlando Attendance : 61,355 Referee : Peter Mikkelsen Republic of Ireland at Korea / Japan 2002 Republic of Ireland squad -- 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Given 2 Finnan 3 Harte 4 Cunningham 5 Staunton ( c ) 6 Roy Keane 7 McAteer 8 Holland 9 Duff 10 Robbie Keane 11 Kilbane 12 Kinsella 13 Connolly 14 Breen 15 Dunne 16 Kiely 17 Quinn 18 G. Kelly 19 Morrison 20 O'Brien 21 Reid 22 Carsley 23 A. Kelly Coach : McCarthy Group E Main article : 2002 FIFA World Cup - Group E Team Pld GF GA GD Pts Germany 0 11 + 10 7 Republic of Ireland 0 5 + 3 5 Cameroon - 1 Saudi Arabia 0 0 0 12 - 12 0 1 June 2002 15 : 30 Republic of Ireland 1 -- 1 Cameroon Holland 52 ' ( Report ) Mboma 39 ' Niigata Stadium, Niigata Attendance : 33,679 Referee : Toru Kamikawa 5 June 2002 20 : 30 Germany 1 -- 1 Republic of Ireland Klose 19 ' ( Report ) Robbie Keane 90 + 2 ' Kashima Soccer Stadium, Kashima Attendance : 35,854 Referee : Kim Milton Nielsen 11 June 2002 20 : 30 Saudi Arabia 0 -- 3 Republic of Ireland ( Report ) Robbie Keane 7 ' Breen 61 ' Duff 87 ' International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama Attendance : 65,320 Referee : Falla N'Doye Knockout phase 16 June 2002 20 : 30 Spain 1 -- 1 ( a.e.t. ) Republic of Ireland Morientes 8 ' ( Report ) Robbie Keane 90 ' ( pen. ) Penalties Hierro Baraja Juanfran Valerón Mendieta 3 -- 2 Robbie Keane Holland Connolly Kilbane Finnan Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon Attendance : 38,926 Referee : Anders Frisk Record players Defender Steve Staunton has represented the Irish team in all of their 13 World Cup matches, captaining the team in 2002. No. Name Matches World Cups Steve Staunton 13 1990, 1994 and 2002 Pat Bonner 9 1990 and 1994 Ray Houghton 9 1990 and 1994 Paul McGrath 9 1990 and 1994 Andy Townsend 9 1990 and 1994 6 John Aldridge 8 1990 and 1994 7 Niall Quinn 7 1990 and 2002 8 Tony Cascarino 6 1990 and 1994 Gary Kelly 6 1994 and 2002 Jason McAteer 6 1994 and 2002 Top goalscorers No. Name Goals World Cups Robbie Keane 2002 Niall Quinn 1990 Kevin Sheedy 1990 John Aldridge 1994 Ray Houghton 1994 Gary Breen 2002 Damien Duff 2002 Matt Holland 2002 See also Republic of Ireland at the UEFA European Football Championship References Jump up ^ `` 1990 FIFA World Cup ''. Irish Independent. Retrieved 11 June 2015. Jump up ^ `` Ireland 's Italia ' 90 squad - where are they now ? ''. RTE Sport. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015. Jump up ^ `` Niall Quinn : ' People can talk about the ramshackle Irish team, but we knew what the real story was ' ''. Irish Examiner. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015. Jump up ^ `` 24 World Cup memories we wo n't forget from Italia ' 90 ''. The 42. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015. Jump up ^ `` On Second Thoughts : Italia 90 ''. Guardian. 14 October 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2015. Jump up ^ `` 11 iconic images that bring back memories of the Italia 90 good times ''. The 42. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015. Jump up ^ `` Where are Ireland 's Italia 90 dream team now ? ''. The 42. 16 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015. Jump up ^ `` Italia ' 90 ''. Irish Times. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015. External links Ireland Profile at FIFA.com Ireland World Cup Record at FIFA.com Article on Ireland 's Qualification for the 1990 World Cup Article on Ireland at 1994 FIFA World Cup World Cup Record at Planet World Cup Republic of Ireland national football team Players Managers Governing body Football Association of Ireland Venues Aviva Stadium Lansdowne Road Croke Park Dalymount Park Results Complete list of matches ( 1924 -- present ) Irish Free State results ( 1924 -- 35 ) Ireland ( FAI ) results ( 1936 -- 54 ) Republic of Ireland results ( 1954 -- present ) -- 1954 -- 59 1960s 70s 80s 90s 2000s 10s Players Players Dual Ireland players Hat - trick scorers World Cup finals 1990 1994 2002 ( including Saipan incident ) World Cup record European finals 2012 2016 Euro record Other tournaments 1924 Olympic Football Tournament 1948 Olympic Football Tournament Brazil Independence Cup ( 1972 ) Kirin Cup ( 1984 ) Iceland Triangular Tournament ( 1986 ) U.S. Cup ( 1992 2000 ) Unity Cup ( 2004 ) 2011 Nations Cup Famous matches 1949 defeat of England 1995 friendly against England 2010 FIFA World Cup play - off against France Songs `` Olé, Olé, Olé '' `` Joxer Goes to Stuttgart '' `` Give It a Lash Jack '' `` Put ' Em Under Pressure '' `` Watch Your House for Ireland '' `` Here Come the Good Times '' `` The Rocky Road to Poland '' Other National teams Women 's U-23 U-21 U-19 U-17 League of Ireland XI Awards FAI International Football Awards Countries at the FIFA World Cup Team appearances All - time table AFC Australia China Indonesia Iran Iraq Japan Kuwait North Korea Saudi Arabia South Korea United Arab Emirates CAF Algeria Angola Cameroon DR Congo Egypt Ghana Ivory Coast Morocco Nigeria Senegal South Africa Togo Tunisia CONCACAF Canada Costa Rica Cuba El Salvador Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Panama Trinidad and Tobago United States CONMEBOL Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Paraguay Peru Uruguay OFC New Zealand UEFA Austria Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic Denmark East Germany England France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Israel Italy Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia Scotland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales Considered a successor team by FIFA, or have competed under another name ( s ). Have been member of multiple confederations. Team and national federation no longer exist. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Republic_of_Ireland_at_the_FIFA_World_Cup&oldid=854656478 '' Categories : Republic of Ireland at the FIFA World Cup Countries at the FIFA World Cup Republic of Ireland national football team -- record in major tournaments Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Nederlands Edit links This page was last edited on 12 August 2018, at 22 : 35 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: how many times have ireland been in the world cup
Answer: three