The three teams in this group played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner Northern Ireland qualified for the sixth FIFA World Cup held in Sweden.
The 15 January 1958 fixture of Italy at Northern Ireland was originally scheduled for 4 December 1957 but heavy fog in London prevented the referee (Istvan Zsolt, manager of the Budapest Opera House) from arriving for the match in time. The fixture was postponed but the match continued as a friendly, and ended in a 2-2 draw and a riot as the crowd (infuriated by the postponement and quite rough play from some Italian players) invaded the pitch. The 'friendly' match was dubbed the 'Battle of Belfast'.[1]Danny Blanchflower, Northern Ireland captain at the time, helped save the situation by ordering his players to escort their Italian counterparts off the field while the police dealt with the crowd.[2]
^"Down Memory Lane: Battle of Belfast was far from a golden moment - International, Football". Belfasttelegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
^(PDF). FIFA. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
^. FIFA. 28 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
External linksedit
FIFA official page
RSSSF - 1958 World Cup Qualification
Allworldcup
January 01, 1970
1958, fifa, world, qualification, uefa, group, main, article, 1958, fifa, world, qualification, also, 1958, fifa, world, three, teams, this, group, played, against, each, other, home, away, basis, group, winner, northern, ireland, qualified, sixth, fifa, world. Main article 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification See also 1958 FIFA World Cup The three teams in this group played against each other on a home and away basis The group winner Northern Ireland qualified for the sixth FIFA World Cup held in Sweden The 15 January 1958 fixture of Italy at Northern Ireland was originally scheduled for 4 December 1957 but heavy fog in London prevented the referee Istvan Zsolt manager of the Budapest Opera House from arriving for the match in time The fixture was postponed but the match continued as a friendly and ended in a 2 2 draw and a riot as the crowd infuriated by the postponement and quite rough play from some Italian players invaded the pitch The friendly match was dubbed the Battle of Belfast 1 Danny Blanchflower Northern Ireland captain at the time helped save the situation by ordering his players to escort their Italian counterparts off the field while the police dealt with the crowd 2 Contents 1 Table 2 Matches 3 References 4 External linksTable editPos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification nbsp nbsp nbsp 1 nbsp Northern Ireland 4 2 1 1 6 3 2 000 5 Qualification to 1958 FIFA World Cup 2 1 3 0 2 nbsp Italy 4 2 0 2 5 5 1 000 4 1 0 3 0 3 nbsp Portugal 4 1 1 2 4 7 0 571 3 1 1 3 0 Source FIFA 3 Matches edit16 January 1957Portugal nbsp 1 1 nbsp Northern IrelandVasques nbsp 24 Report Bingham nbsp 6 Attendance 33 000Referee Lequesne France 25 April 1957Italy nbsp 1 0 nbsp Northern IrelandCervato nbsp 3 ReportAttendance 70 000Referee Guigue France 1 May 1957Northern Ireland nbsp 3 0 nbsp PortugalCasey nbsp 22 Simpson nbsp 60 McIlroy nbsp 70 pen ReportAttendance 35 000Referee Phillips Scotland 26 May 1957Portugal nbsp 3 0 nbsp ItalyVasques nbsp 41 Teixeira nbsp 81 Matateu nbsp 87 ReportAttendance 37 000Referee Treichel West Germany 22 December 1957Italy nbsp 3 0 nbsp PortugalGratton nbsp 36 72 Pivatelli nbsp 84 ReportAttendance 50 000Referee Damiani Yugoslavia 15 January 1958Northern Ireland nbsp 2 1 nbsp ItalyMcIlroy nbsp 13 Cush nbsp 28 Report Da Costa nbsp 56 Attendance 50 000Referee Zsolt Hungary References edit Down Memory Lane Battle of Belfast was far from a golden moment International Football Belfasttelegraph co uk Retrieved 2012 06 11 FIFA Fact Sheet History of the FIFA World Cup TM Preliminary Competition PDF FIFA 2010 Archived from the original PDF on 14 June 2010 Retrieved 2010 06 09 1958 FIFA World Cup Chile Preliminaries FIFA 28 March 2013 Archived from the original on 28 March 2013 Retrieved 12 June 2022 External links editFIFA official page RSSSF 1958 World Cup Qualification Allworldcup Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group 8 amp oldid 1137605141, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
