Pat Byrne of Shamrock Rovers was the last League of Ireland player to play a competitive match for the senior squad, against Denmark in November 1985. Scotland qualified thanks to an unexpected 1-0 win in Bulgaria in the previous round. Ireland failed to qualify for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
Ireland last qualified for a major tournament when they took part in the 1990 World Cup in Italy. However, they were eliminated at the group stage after losing 2-1 to England and drawing 0-0 with Sweden. Swedish striker Henrik Larsson went on to become the most expensive player in Premier League history when he moved to Manchester United for £48 million ($75 million).
In June 2004, Ireland made their first appearance at a FIFA World Cup finals tournament when they took part in France four years after being banned from competing in international football. However, they were defeated by South Korea 3-1 during the second round of the competition.
Ireland's next major tournament was the UEFA Euro 2016 championship which took place in France. Although they started off well by defeating Hungary 2-1 in their opening game, they were eventually knocked out by Portugal in the quarter-finals after losing 2-1 away from home. Portgual went on to win the tournament.
Since then, Ireland have not been able to qualify for any more major tournaments.
Shamrock Rovers F.C. is the current League of Ireland champion. The Hoops defeated Derry City 1-0 in the final on 24 October 2016 at Tallaght Stadium.
The season began on 8 March when Shamrock Rovers played their first game since winning the Euro 2016 Qualifiers and they took part in the UEFA Europa League. Their league campaign started a week later with a 0-1 away defeat by Drogheda United after conceding an early goal through a penalty kick.
During the mid-season break, manager Trevor Croly left the club to take over at Dundee United but was replaced by former player Stephen Kenny earlier this month. Under his management, Shamrock Rovers won the League of Ireland title in 2015-16 and also reached the FAI Cup final that year. Before joining Rovers, he had been assistant manager at Preston North End and had worked with John O'Neill at the Irish club from 2001 to 2004.
So far this season, Shamrock Rovers have won all three of their games in charge and are leading the table ahead of Derry City who have one point from two matches.
It was the finale of Gaelic football's highest championship, the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, and was contested on September 18, 2011 at Croke Park in Dublin between Kerry and Dublin. Dublin won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship by a single point, their first since 1995.
The match was drawn 1-1 after extra time and went to a replay for the first time ever in an All-Ireland final. The match took place on August 26, 2012 and was also won by Dublin who secured their third title in four years. This is their longest period without defeat in the history of the championship. Kerry were attempting to win a second successive All-Ireland title.
The 2011 season saw Dublin compete with Kerry for the top spot in the league table. Both teams ended the regular season with five wins from their last six games. However, Kerry had a better goal difference and so took over as champions. For the first time in eight seasons there will be no All-Ireland football final because both Kerry and Dublin finished the season with five wins.
There has been one previous All-Ireland football final between Kerry and Dublin. That game took place in 1983 and was won by Kerry by 1-6 to 3-5. Mick O'Dwyer was the goalscoring hero for Kerry while Paddy McCartan was the captain for Dublin.
Ireland faced France in the round of 16 at Lyon on June 26. After Shane Long was fouled by Paul Pogba, they took an early lead in the second minute when Robbie Brady converted a penalty, striking low to the right of the goalie and in off the post. In the 38th minute, France drew level through Kylian Mbappe's header from Maxwel Cornet's free kick.
France went ahead again just before the break when Antoine Griezmann scored his second goal of the match with a close-range finish after being played in by Mbappe. In the 56th minute, Ireland came back into the game when Long scored their first goal of the match with a superb strike from outside the box that flew in past Hugo Lloris.
This was Ireland's first competitive meeting with France. The two nations have been rivals since Ireland joined UEFA in 1984. They have never met before this tournament but will do so next year for a chance at winning their first title.
Northern Irish football clubs compete in European tournaments. Northern Irish football clubs have competed in European football competitions since 1957, when Glenavon became the first Northern Irish club to do so in the 1957-58 season. Northern Ireland has been represented in European tournaments by 16 different clubs. Linfield are the most successful club from Northern Ireland, having won the UEFA Cup twice.
Of the 16 clubs that have represented Northern Ireland in Europe, 12 are still active. They are: Ards, Armagh City, Belfast Celtic, Ballyclare, Glentoran, Linfield, Millwall, Portadown, Sligo Rovers, St Patrick's Athletic, and Warrenpoint Town.
Seven of these clubs are based in Belfast. The other five clubs are spread across Northern Ireland. Armagh City, Belfast Celtic, Glentoran, Linfield, and Sligo Rovers are all based in Northern Ireland. Millwall and Portadown are both based in England but they play their home games in the UK's lower divisions (Millwall plays in the English Championship, while Portadown plays in the National League). St Patrick's Athletic is based in Dublin but they also play in the Premier Division (the top division) of the Airtricity League (which is the highest level of competition in Republic of Ireland football). Warrenpoint Town are based in County Down and they play in the NIFL Premiership (the top league in Northern Ireland).
Ireland have qualified for the 1990 World Cup quarter-finals against Italy despite failing to win a match in regular time. Indeed, the Irish had only scored two goals in their four previous matches and had advanced to the quarter-finals via a penalty shoot-out against the unfortunate Romanians. Both Ireland and Italy were drawn into a cross-group play-off against France, who they would meet at the World Cup finals for the first time since 1958.
Italy lost all three of their group games before being booted out of the competition by France. However, they still managed to score 14 goals and lose just once - that 1-0 defeat to Romania - during their campaign. Ireland also failed to win any of their group games but they did score 14 goals, one more than Italy, and they too were eliminated from the tournament after losing to France. However, unlike Italy who went home with their tails between their legs, Ireland enjoyed an exciting end to their World Cup run with two late goal wins over South Korea and Russia to reach the last eight for the first time.
All things considered, Ireland made it through to the quarter-finals where they were defeated by Italy. The Italians proved to be too strong for the Irish as they beat them 3-1 on aggregate to advance to the semi-finals. Ireland's exit from the World Cup was a disappointment but they did manage to earn some respect around the world thanks to some impressive displays down the stretch.
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