Euro 1988 Football Championship - Irish
Qualifying Campaign
The Euro 88 qualifying group for the Republic
of Ireland soccer team included Bulgaria, Belgium Scotland and Luxembourg.
This was a difficult group for the Irish particularly coming so soon after
a very poor World Cup Qualifying campaign which saw the end of Eoin
Hand's reign as Irish
soccer manager. His successor was Englishman Jack
Charlton. Through the infamous granny rule Charlton and the FAI
had managed to unearth some useful footballers to be added to the Irish
squad.
Following a decent start, where Ireland
a late 2-2 draw away to the Belgians through a last minute penalty scored
by Liam Brady, Ireland
surrendered the initiative by only drawing at home with the Scots. The
Irish seized back the initiative by beating the Scots through an early
Mark Lawrenson goal in the away fixture. This was followed by a 2-1 defeat
to the Bulgarians in Sofia. This to be the nature of this group with the
four main contenders all taking points from each other. There was a real
ebb and flow to Euro 88 Group 7.
Following a disappointing 0-0 home draw
with Belgium Ireland went on to defeat Luxembourg twice and, in what was
the Republic's best performance in the qualifier group, then beat the
Bulgarians 2-0 at Lansdowne
Road (now Aviva Stadium).
Despite finishing with three straight wins the Republic would be out of
the competition if could manage to beat Scotland at home in Sofia.
Gary
Mackay - Euro 88 Irish Soccer Hero
A home victory would leave the Bulgarians
on twelve points, one more that the total that Ireland had amassed. To
the amazement and sheer joy of Irish soccer fans an unknown Scotsman called
Gary Mackay scored an 87th minute winner against Bulgaria for Scotland.
This was all the more amazing as Scotland could not qualify and therefore
had nothing tangible to play for while Bulgaria had qualification for
the Euro 88 Finals within it's grasp.
For all Irish soccer fans, of that vintage,
here is the Gary Mackay goal against Bulgaria in Sofia in the 87th minute
of the match on 11 November 1987 with some context from Jack Charlton
- courtesy of YouTube.
Euro 88 Qualifying Campaign - Group
Table
|
1988 European
Football Championship - Qualifying Group 7
|
| Nation |
Played
|
Won
|
Drew
|
Lost
|
Goals F
|
Goals A
|
Points
|
| Ireland |
8
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
10
|
5
|
11
|
| Bulgaria |
8
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
12
|
6
|
10
|
| Belgium |
8
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
16
|
8
|
9
|
| Scotland |
8
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
7
|
5
|
9
|
| Luxembourg |
8
|
0
|
1
|
7
|
2
|
23
|
1
|
Republic of Ireland Euro 88 Qualifiers
- Match Results
10/09/1986: Scotland 0-0 Bulgaria
10/09/1986: Belgium 2-2 Ireland
Claesen 14, Scifo 71 / Frank Stapleton 18, Liam Brady 89 Pen
14/10/1986: Luxembourg 0-6 Belgium
15/10/1986: Ireland 0-0 Scotland
12/11/1986: Scotland 3-0 Luxembourg
19/11/1986: Belgium 1-1 Bulgaria
18/02/1987: Scotland 0-1 Ireland
Mark Lawrenson 8
01/04/1987: Bulgaria 2-1 Ireland
Sadkov 41, Tanev 82 Pen / Frank Stapleton 52
01/04/1987: Belgium 4-1 Scotland
29/04/1987: Ireland 0-0 Belgium
30/04/1987: Luxembourg 1-4 Bulgaria
20/05/1987: Bulgaria 3-0 Luxembourg
28/05/1987: Luxembourg 0-2 Ireland
Tony Galvin 44, Ronnie Whelan 64
09/09/1987: Ireland 2-1 Luxembourg
Frank Stapleton 31, Paul McGrath 74 / Krings 28
23/09/1987: Bulgaria 2-0 Belgium
14/10/1987: Scotland 2-0 Belgium
14/10/1987: Ireland 2-0 Bulgaria
Paul McGrath 52, Kevin Moran 85
11/11/1987: Belgium 3-0 Luxembourg
11/11/1987: Bulgaria 0-1 Scotland
02/12/1987: Luxembourg 0-0 Scotland |
Irish World Cup Qualifying
Group Results
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World
Cup 2014
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World
Cup 2018
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Number of Appearances and Goals Scored
in Irish World Cup Qualifying Campaigns
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World
Cup 2014 Appearances
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Number of Appearances and Goals Scored
in Irish Euro Championship Finals Qualifying Campaigns
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Euro
2012 Appearances
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Euro
2016 Appearances
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