Northern Ireland at UEFA Euro 2016 | Squad and Stats.

Don’t underestimate the Norn Iron!

The Green and White Army had never reached the European Championship finals until the latest one in France. Northern Ireland won qualifying Group F and secured their place at UEFA Euro 2016. Michael O’Neil’s players won 6 of their 10 matches in the group and only lost once (0-2 to Romania). Kyle Lafferty has become the key player of Northern Ireland. Even though the striker was not a first choice player for his club during the season, he managed to score 7 goals in 9 matches for the Norn Iron, becoming the second best goal-scorer in Northern Ireland’s history with 16 goals.

To continue; Northern Ireland’s best record in the European Championships was reaching Round of 16 in 1964. The Norn Iron eliminated Poland in the preliminary round (4-0 on aggregate). Then, The Green and White Army met the future champions Spain in a 2-leg battle at Round of 16. Northern Ireland recorded a good result in the first leg in Bilbao (1-1). Amancio gave Spain the lead in the 60th minute, but Willie Irvine equalized 15 minutes later. Unfortunately, La Furia Roja won 1-0 in Belfast and eliminated the Norn Iron from the tournament.

On the other hand, Northern Ireland has never been lucky at the European Championship qualifiers, but have recorded 3 appearances at World Cup tournaments. The most successful major international competition in the history of The White and Green Army was in the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden. The Norn Iron started very well, beating Czechoslovakia 1-0 with a great header goal by Wilbur Cush. Then, in the second game Northern Ireland lost to Argentina 1-3, but put up a really great performance again. McParland found the net for the Norn Iron in the 4th minute. The striker was the best player in Northern Ireland’s squad, netting 5 goals for his team in the competition. McParland scored twice against West Germany (2-2) and did the same thing in the play-off match against Czechoslovakia (2-1). But, Northern Ireland had no chance at the quarter-finals against France (0-4). Northern Ireland eventually took 8th place in the world after this magnificent performance!

24 years later (FIFA World Cup 1982 in Spain) the Norn Iron repeated their incredible performance from 1958. Northern Ireland won their group, recording a 1-0 victory against the host nation Spain and 2 draws (1-1 vs. Honduras and 0-0 vs. Yugoslavia). Then, The White and Green Army finished with a 2-2 draw against Austria, before being eliminated by France in the second group stage of the tournament (1-4). This performance secured 9th place at the World Cup for the Norn Iron. Gerry Armstrong became the hero for his nation, scoring 3 goals (vs. Spain, Honduras and France), and providing an assist against Austria.

The last major international competition Northern Ireland took part in was the FIFA World Cup 1986 in Mexico. The Norn Iron managed to win just 1 point from the competition (1-1 vs. Algeria). It’s interesting that Zidane’s uncle scored the goal for Algeria against Northern Ireland.

The Squad:

• Goalkeepers: Roy Carroll, Michael McGovern, Alan Mannus.
• Defenders: Craig Cathcart, Jonathan Evans, Gareth McAuley, Luke McCullough, Conor McLaughlin, Aaron Hughes, Shane Ferguson, Lee Hodson, Chris Baird, Patrick McNair.
• Midfielders: Steven Davis, Oliver Norwood, Corry Evans, Jamie Ward, Stuart Dallas, Niall McGinn.
• Forwards: Will Grigg, Kyle Lafferty, Conor Washington, Josh Magennis.

Northern Ireland matches at the Euro 2016:

• 12/06/16 | Poland vs. Northern Ireland | Allianz Riviera (Nice)
• 16/06/16 | Ukraine vs. Northern Ireland | Parc Olympique Lyonnais
• 21/06/16 | Northern Ireland vs. Germany | Parc des Princes (Paris)

38-year-old Roy Carroll will be the most experienced player for Northern Ireland. The goalkeeper made his debut in 1997, but is still performing at top level. The key players in defence will be Craig Cathcart of Watford and ex-Man United player Jonny Evans. In addition, Southampton’s midfielder Steven Davis is in top form and will be a key part of O’Neill’s starting eleven. Kyle Lafferty is currently Northern Ireland’s best striker with 16 goals in 49 appearances for the Norn Iron. The main omission for The White and Green Army will be Chris Brunt of West Bromwich Albion, who has received an ACL knee ligament injury and will be sidelined

“It is massive how much this means to the country. Football was divisive in the past. The national team was divisive. The era I played in was divisive. I played during some of the worst moments of the Troubles. I remember playing in games at Windsor Park off the back of atrocities and the atmosphere was far from great. The atmosphere now in the stadium has a real strong Northern Ireland identity, whereas once you had to be one or the other. That has changed dramatically. The IFA have done an awful lot of work on that.” Michael O’Neill