Northern Ireland started their 1982 qualification campaign with an encounter at Tel Aviv against Israel. They enjoyed a satisfying 0-0 draw against the Israeli’s before facing Sweden at Belfast in October, enjoying an amazing 3-0 home win at Belfast.
John McClelland and Jim Platt were in fine form for Northern Ireland as they set out to meet Portugal in Lisbon in November 1980; however they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat. The Irish endured a decent away draw against Scotland and followed that up by a precious 1-0 victory over Portugal in Belfast, handing the Irish now with a great chance of qualification for the finals. After suffering a defeat at Solna against Sweden and only a 0-0 draw at home to Scotland, a win at home against Israel was absolute crucial to ensure qualification. They finished the encounter off with a fine 1-0 win, In turn earning Northern Ireland qualification to their second world cup finals tournament.

Their preparations for the world cup were a debacle, losing heavily against England and France. The 1982 world cup finals saw Norman Whiteside become the youngest ever football player to play in a world cup match. They kick started their world cup campaign with two draws against Yugoslavia and Honduras before meeting the hosts Spain. In what proved to be a Gerry Armstrong inspired performance, Northern Ireland went in front and despite having Mal Donaghy sent off, they incredibly won the tie 1-0. The Irish met Austria and France in the next round, only managing to acquire one point from the two matches, in turn eliminating them out of the competition. Their 1984 European championship qualifying campaign saw the Irish coming close to qualifying as they defeated West Germany and Turkey in Belfast; however a disappointing away draw against Albania at Tirana and a 1-0 defeat away at Ankara against Turkey crushed any hopes of qualifying. Martin O’Neill and Jimmy Nicholl were in good form for the Irish.