The Republic of Ireland have appeared in the Men's FIFA World Cup on three occasions, in 1990, 1994, and 2002. They have always advanced from the group stage but have never advanced beyond the quarter-finals.
Their first appearance was in Italy at the 1990 Men's FIFA World Cup.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] 1990 was also their best performance in a major championship, where they reached the quarter-finals, despite not winning a single match in 90 minutes.[6] [7] [8]
| FIFA World Cup record | Qualification record | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Position | |||||||||||||
 1930 | Did not enter | Declined participation | ||||||||||||||
 1934 | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 3/3 | ||||||||
 1938 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2/2 | |||||||||
 1950 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 2/3 | |||||||||
 1954 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2/3 | |||||||||
 1958 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 2/3 | |||||||||
 1962 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 3/3 | |||||||||
| 1966 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | Lost Play-off | |||||||||
 1970 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 4/4 | |||||||||
 1974 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2/3 | |||||||||
 1978 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3/3 | |||||||||
 1982 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 11 | 3/5 | |||||||||
| 1986 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 4/5 | |||||||||
| 1990 | Quarter-finals | 8th | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 2/5 | |
 1994 | Round of 16 | 15th | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 6 | 2/7 | |
| 1998 | Did not qualify | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 24 | 11 | 2/6
| ||||||||
 2002 | Round of 16 | 12th | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 6 | 2/6
| |
| 2006 | Did not qualify | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 4/6 | ||||||||
 2010 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 13 | 10 | 2/6
| |||||||||
| 2014 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 17 | 4/6 | |||||||||
| 2018 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 2/6
| |||||||||
 2022 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 3/5 | |||||||||
 2026 | To be determined | To be determined | ||||||||||||||
  2030 | ||||||||||||||||
 2034 | ||||||||||||||||
| Total | Quarter-finals | 3/25 | 13 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 149 | 58 | 46 | 45 | 210 | 177 | — | |
| List of FIFA World Cup matches | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Score | Result | Republic of Ireland scorers |
| 1990 | Group stage | 1–1 | Draw | |
| 1–1 | Draw | |||
| 0–0 | Draw | — | ||
| Round of 16 | 0–0 | Draw | — | |
| Quarter-finals | 0–1 | Loss | — | |
| 1994 | Group stage | 1–0 | Win | |
| 1–2 | Loss | |||
| 0–0 | Draw | — | ||
| Round of 16 | 0–2 | Loss | — | |
| 2002 | Group stage | 1–1 | Draw | |
| 1–1 | Draw | |||
| 3–0 | Win | |||
| Round of 16 | 1–1 | Draw | ||
| width=150 | Team | width=20 | Pld | width=20 | W | width=20 | D | width=20 | L | width=20 | GF | width=20 | GA | width=20 | GD | width=20 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | ||||||||||
| 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | ||||||||||
| 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 |
Note: Republic of Ireland awarded second place by drawing of lots
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See main article: 1994 FIFA World Cup Group E.
| width=150 | Team | width=20 | Pld | width=20 | W | width=20 | D | width=20 | L | width=20 | GF | width=20 | GA | width=20 | GD | width=20 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
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| width=150 | Team | width=20 | Pld | width=20 | W | width=20 | D | width=20 | L | width=20 | GF | width=20 | GA | width=20 | GD | width=20 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 | +10 | 7 | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 5 | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 12 | −12 | 0 |
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Defender Steve Staunton has represented the Irish team in all of their thirteen World Cup matches, captaining the side in 2002.
| Rank | Player | Matches | Tournaments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steve Staunton | 13 | 1990, 1994, 2002 |
| 2 | Pat Bonner | 9 | 1990, 1994 |
| Ray Houghton | 9 | 1990, 1994 | |
| Paul McGrath | 9 | 1990, 1994 | |
| Andy Townsend | 9 | 1990, 1994 | |
| 6 | John Aldridge | 8 | 1990, 1994 |
| 7 | Niall Quinn | 7 | 1990, 2002 |
| 8 | Tony Cascarino | 6 | 1990, 1994 |
| Gary Kelly | 6 | 1994, 2002 | |
| Jason McAteer | 6 | 1994, 2002 |
| Rank | Player | Goals | Tournaments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robbie Keane | 3 | 2002 |
| 2 | Niall Quinn | 1 | 1990 |
| Kevin Sheedy | 1 | 1990 | |
| John Aldridge | 1 | 1994 | |
| Ray Houghton | 1 | 1994 | |
| Gary Breen | 1 | 2002 | |
| Damien Duff | 1 | 2002 | |
| Matt Holland | 1 | 2002 |