The World at Their Feet

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This is the story of Northern Ireland’s exploits in first qualifying for the 1958 World Cup finals (the smallest country to do so), eliminating the two-time world champions Italy in the process, and then exceeding all expectations in the final tournament in Sweden when they reached the quarter-finals, qualifying from a group that contained the reigning world champions (West Germany) and South American champions (Argentina). Author Ronnie Hanna interviewed four of the country’s all-time greats – goalkeeper Harry Gregg, a hero at the Munich air crash in which eight of his Manchester United team-mates died, midfield general Jimmy McIlroy from Burnley, flying winger Billy Bingham, of Sunderland and Everton, who managed the only other Northern Ireland team to reach a World Cup finals (in 1982) and flying winger Peter McParland of Aston Villa.This is their story and that of the rest of the first Northern Ireland team to reach the highest level. In 1958 they got to the quarter-finals but, ravaged by injury, they went out to France.