When was the last time Republic of Ireland qualified for the World Cup?

The Republic of Ireland have a World Cup finals record that many nations would envy: no defeats until their fifth game, 10 goals conceded in 13 games and remaining unbeaten over 90 minutes against Spain, Germany and England, as well as beating Italy.

Ireland fans, undoubtedly, would trade more blemishes on their record for more appearances at the finals. By the time of their next potential appearance, in 2026, Ireland will not have been involved in the finals since they took La Roja to penalties in a campaign lit up by the goals of the talismanic Robbie Keane 24 years earlier.

There is much to be said for Ireland off the pitch, too, bringing with them fans who are among the most colourful and passionate at any tournament they have the opportunity to travel to.

The late, uniquely charismatic Jack Charlton transferred much of his grit and determination to his team in their first two tournaments, and another forceful personality, Mick McCarthy, guided the campaign that led to the knockout stage in 2002.

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Republic of Ireland World Cup qualifiers 2022

The Republic of Ireland will not be travelling to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup after failing to qualify from UEFA European Qualifiers Group A, which matched them with Serbia, Portugal, Luxembourg, and Azerbaijan.

Despite Alan Browne giving Ireland an 18th-minute lead in Belgrade in their opening qualifying match, they were 3-1 down by the time James Collins scored a late consolation goal, and they were then embarrassed 1-0 at home to minnows Luxembourg in Dublin.

John Egan gave Ireland the lead in Portugal in their third match, only for Cristiano Ronaldo to score in the 89th and 96th minutes to condemn the visitors to defeat.

That promising result, though, appeared to spur Stephen Kenny's team on to an improved remainder of their qualifying fixtures, finishing third in the group.

Republic of Ireland World Cup appearances

Ireland have not qualified for the World Cup many times in their history, which is perhaps unsurprising given the relatively small size of the country.

They have only reached the World Cup three times. Curiously, when they have made it to the competition, they have always managed to qualify for the knockouts.

Ireland first qualified for the 1990 World Cup in Italy, which marked their best ever tournament: they made the quarterfinals. Despite not have qualified before, the Irish national team went on to qualify for USA 1994 and the 2002 finals in Japan and South Korea.

For a team with little history of Word Cup success, these appearances marked a potential new dawn in Ireland's history, and there were hopes they would become World Cup regulars.

However, any hope they had was false – 2002 was their last World Cup appearance. If Kenny can keep his team's improvement going, Irish fans will be hoping they can improve on that in time for 2026.

Republic of Ireland World Cup history

Ireland's World Cup history is laid out below.