Results

Qualifier 1: N. Ireland 3-0 Malta
21.05.1988, Windsor Park (Belfast)
Goals: Quinn, Penney, Clarke
Line-up (4-4-2): McKnight – Donaghy, McClelland (c), McDonald, Worthington – Penney (McNally 81), D Wilson, O’Neill, Dennison (Black 66) – Clarke, Quinn.
The Ulstermen escape a couple of early scares, then are three goals to the good at half time. It was a rare win for the Northern Irish, but one which could be a blessing for their rebuilding project?

Qualifier 2: N. Ireland 0-0 Rep. of Ireland
14.09.1988, Windsor Park (Belfast)
Line-up (4-4-2): McKnight – Donaghy (Rogan h-t), McClelland (c), McDonald, Worthington – Penney, D Wilson, O’Neill, Black – Clarke, Quinn.
N Ireland did look inferior to the Republic, but managed to hold on despite losing Donaghy to injury at half time. They could not create a lot of goalscoring opportunities

Qualifier 3: Hungary 1-0 N. Ireland
19.10.1988, Népstadion (Budapest)
Line-up (4-5-1): McKnight – Rogan, McClelland (c), McDonald, Worthington – Dennison, D Wilson, Donaghy, O’Neill (K Wilson 59), Black – Clarke (Quinn 82)
Bingham’s defensive 4-5-1 approach almost turned out to be a success, but for a late home goal. Clarke was on his own up front, and chances were again few and far between

Qualifier 4: Spain 4-0 N. Ireland
21.12.1988
Line-up (4-5-1): McKnight – Rogan, McClelland (c), McDonald, Worthington – Penney, K Wilson, Donaghy (O’Neill 68), McCreery (Quinn 54), Black – Clarke
Despite giving away a silly own goal through Rogan, the Northern Irish coped well during the first half. Their midfield was exposed when McCreery was forced off with injury and Bingham brought on forward Quinn to replace him. It had until then worked well with Donaghy in a holding midfield role

Midway report: N. Ireland

Qualifier 5: N. Ireland 0-2 Spain
08.02.1989
Line-up (4-4-2): McKnight – Ramsey, Donaghy, McClelland (c), Rogan – Dennison (O’Neill 64), D Wilson (Clarke 69), Sanchez, Black – Quinn, K Wilson
Spain score from set-piece situations, and Northern Ireland are again no attacking threat. Bingham had reverted back to 4-4-2, though he had placed Clarke on the bench. Sanchez was given a rare start in midfield

Qualifier 6: Malta 0-2 N. Ireland
26.04.1989
Goals: Clarke, O’Neill
Line-up (4-4-2): Wright – Fleming, McClelland (c), Donaghy, Worthington (Rogan 87) – D Wilson, McCreery, Sanchez (O’Neill 72), K Wilson – Clarke, Quinn
As the opponents had recently drawn in Hungary, Bingham had made sure his players were taking Malta very seriously. They often sat deep and invited Malta onto them, but gained a controlled win in the end

Friendly: N. Ireland 0-1 Chile
26.05.1989
Line-up: Wright – Fleming, McDonald, Donaghy (c), Rogan – D Wilson (Dennison 75), McCreery (C O’Neill 75), M O’Neill, K Wilson (Black 64) – Clarke, Quinn (Coyle 64)
Oddly, this was the only friendly that Northern Ireland played during the qualifying period. The team consisted of mostly regular starters, though a couple of players were given their debuts. C O’Neill from Motherwell was one of them, and he would be seen before the end of the qualifiers

Qualifier 7: N. Ireland 1-2 Hungary
06.09.1989, Windsor Park (Belfast)
Goal: Whiteside
Line-up (4-4-2): Wright – Fleming, Rogan, McDonald, Worthington – D Wilson, McCreery, Whiteside (c), Black – Clarke, Quinn (M O’Neill 65)
Arguably N. Ireland’s best match in these qualifiers, and yet they end up as the losing side. Whiteside returned from injury and contributed to the team’s dominant display, but once again they find it hard to actually score goals, and they are heavily punished by Hungarian brilliance.

Qualifier 8: Rep. of Ireland 3-0 N. Ireland
11.10.1989, Lansdowne Road (Dublin)
Line-up (4-5-1): Dunlop – Fleming, Donaghy, McDonald, Worthington – D Wilson, McCreery (C O’Neill 72), Whiteside (c), M O’Neill (K Wilson 80), Dennison – Clarke
As Northern Ireland were in the game for longer spells, the scoreline flattered the hosts. M O’Neill was often a thorn in the Irish side, and came close to scoring. However, the visitors never properly recovered after conceding late in the opening half

Conclusion

The Ulstermen never really looked close to qualifying for the World Cup this time around, with Spain and the Republic of Ireland well deserving of the two berths. At the start of the campaign, the public were talking of Bingham’s rebuilding project, and it is true that it came off to a promising start with a 3-0 win against Malta. There were also some positives from the following matches, where they drew with the Republic of Ireland and lost to Hungary, but despite battling bravely, they were always looking the inferior side. It also soon became clear that Northern Ireland were having great trouble in finding goals. Except for a late consolation goal against Hungary in Belfast, they failed to score in their six matches against the top three teams in the group.

Pos	Team	Pl	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1	Spain	8	6	1	1	20	3	13
2	Rep. of Ireland	8	5	2	1	10	2	12
3	Hungary	8	2	4	2	8	12	8
4	N. Ireland	8	2	1	5	6	12	5
5	Malta	8	0	2	6	3	18	2

Player statistics

Number of players used: 23
Number of players including unused substitutes: 26
Ever-presents (720 mins): 0
Leading goalscorer: Colin Clarke (2)
Yellow/red cards: 10/0

– overview

Player	Apps	XI	Sub	UnSub	Mins	Gls	Y/R
Clarke, Colin	8	7	1		643	2
Worthington, Nigel	7	7			627		2/0
Wilson, Danny	7	7			609		2/0
Donaghy, Mal	7	7			563		1/0
McClelland, John	6	6			540
McDonald, Alan	6	6			540		2/0
Black, Kingsley	6	5	1	1	474
Quinn, Jimmy	7	5	2	1	469	1
McKnight, Allen	5	5		3	450
O’Neill, Michael	8	4	4		410	1
Rogan, Anton	6	4	2	2	408
Wilson, Kevin	5	3	2	2	311
Dennison, Robbie	4	4		3	310		1/0
McCreery, David	4	4		2	306
Fleming, Gary	3	3		3	270
Penney, Steve	3	3		1	261	1
Whiteside, Norman	2	2			180	1	2/0
Wright, Tommy	2	2		1	180
Sanchez, Lawrie	2	2			162
Dunlop, George	1	1			90
Ramsey, Paul	1	1		1	90
O’Neill, Colin	1		1		18
McNally, Bernard	1		1		9
Campbell, David				1
Hughes, Phil				4
Morrow, Steve				1

– game by game

Player	Mal (h)	Ire (h)	Hun (a)	Spa (a)	Spa (h)	Mal (a)	Hun (h)	Ire (a)	Apps	Mins
McKnight	90	90	90	90	90	R	R	R	5	450
Donaghy	90	45	90	68	90	90		90	7	563
Worthington	90	90	90	90		87	90	90	7	627
McClelland	90	90	90	90	90	90			6	540
McDonald	90	90	90	90			90	90	6	540
O’Neill, M	90	90	59	22	26	18	25	80	4+4	410
Penney	81	90	R	90					3	261
Wilson, D	90	90	90		69	90	90	90	7	609
Clarke	90	90	82	90	21	90	90	90	7+1	643
Quinn	90	90	8	36	90	90	65	R	5+2	469
Dennison	66	R	90		64	R	R	90	4	310
Hughes	R	R	R	R
Rogan	R	45	90	90	90	3	90	R	4+2	408
Ramsey	R				90				1	90
McNally	9								+1	9
Black	24	90	90	90	90	R	90		5+1	474
McCreery		R		54	R	90	90	72	4	306
Wilson, K		R	31	90	90	90	R	10	3+2	311
Fleming			R	R	R	90	90	90	3	270
Campbell				R
Sanchez					90	72			2	162
Wright					R	90	90		2	180
Whiteside							90	90	2	180
Morrow							R
Dunlop								90	1	90
O’Neill, C								18	+1	18

– ratings

Pos	Player	Average rating	Number of rated games
1	Donaghy	6,87	7
2	McKnight	6,84	5
3	Worthington	6,82	7
4	Rogan	6,80	5
5	Wilson, D	6,78	7
6	McClelland	6,76	6
7	O’Neill, M	6,72	4
8	Clarke	6,71	7
9	McDonald	6,61	6
9	Quinn	6,61	6
11	McCreery	6,60	4
12	Black	6,54	5
13	Dennison	6,47	4

Explanation to table: Number of rated games: 8. A player must have obtained a rating in half or more of the games in order to feature

Post-qualification

Friendly: Northern Ireland 2-3 Norway
27.03.1990
Goals: Quinn, K Wilson
Line-up: Kee – Hill, Donaghy, McClelland (c) (Dowie 78), Taggart – D Wilson, McCreery (Rogan 19), K Wilson, Black – Clarke, Quinn

Friendly: Northern Ireland 1-0 Uruguay
18.05.1990
Goal: K Wilson
Line-up: Wright – Hill (Devine 80), Taggart, McDonald (c), Worthington – Rogan (Morrow 84), D Wilson, K Wilson, Dennison (McCreery 61) – Dowie, Black