After failing to qualify for the 1976 European championships they were poor in preparing for the qualification matches of the 1978 world cup finals. Northern Ireland got off to a fantastic start in the qualification matches, enjoying a heroic 2-2 draw with Holland in a match played in Rotterdam. Their fine performance was overshadowed the following month by a 2-0 defeat away against Belgium in November 1976. They needed to get something from their next match at Reykjavik in an encounter against Iceland; however all did not go to plan as they lost the match 1-0, already ending hopes of qualification. They met Iceland in Belfast in September 1977, on this occasion defeating the Icelanders 2-0. They met Belgium at Belfast in November 1977 and enjoyed a great 3-0 victory at home against the Belgians; however they failed to qualify for the 1978 finals.
Northern Ireland was in a 1980 European Qualification group that consisted of the Republic of Ireland, Denmark, Bulgaria and England. They kick started their campaign off earning a creditable 0-0 draw away against the Republic of Ireland in an encounter played at Dublin, following that up by a 2-1 home win at Belfast against Denmark. Northern Ireland became favourites in the group as they surprisingly beat Bulgaria 2-0 away at Sofia in turn placing the Irish top of the table. The crucial match was played at Wembley in February 1979, a match that Northern Ireland lost 4-0 at Wembley. They went straight back to the top of the group after another 2-0 win against Bulgaria, this time at home. Everything went bad for the Irish in Copenhagen, suffering a 4-0 defeat against Denmark following that up by a 5-1 defeat against England at Belfast. They finished their campaign off with a 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland in Belfast; however they finished the group off in second position, in turn meaning a failure in qualifying.