In qualifying for the 1950 world cup finals, Northern Ireland made it impossible, suffering a heavy 9-2 defeat against England in Manchester. Between 1947 and 1953, Northern Ireland could not manage to even gain one victory, as they suffered a series of heavy defeats, including a 6-1 thumping against Scotland. In qualifying for the 1954 world cup finals they faced England away and the Welsh away from home. They suffered a 3-1 defeat against England in a match played at Everton before defeating Wales 2-1 at Wrexham. Four years later, the Irish faired much better in attempting to qualify for the 1958 world cup finals, meeting Portugal in Lisbon in their first match in January 1957. The match in Portugal finished off as a highly respectable 1-1 draw which put them on the ball for qualification. They suffered a set back when they met Italy at Rome, losing the match 1-0. Northern Ireland improved dramatically in the following two matches as they defeated Italy and Portugal in Belfast to earn the Irish a position in the 1958 World cup finals, to everybody’s surprise.
They defeated Czechoslovakia in their opening match before suffering a 3-1 defeat against Argentina. Their final group match, against West Germany was a brave 2-2 draw, earning the Irish a place in the play offs. They defeated Czechoslovakia 2-1 in the play offs and met France in the knockout phase, suffering a heavy 4-0 defeat. It was a Northern Ireland side that included Jimmy McIlroy, Danny Blanchflower and Alf McMichael.