Football

Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. The Irish Football Association is the organising body for football in Northern Ireland, and was historically the governing body for the whole of the Ireland until the FAI split away. The IFA has a permanent seat on the International Football Association Board, which is responsible for the laws of the game.

Although part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland has always had a representative side that plays in major professional tournaments - whether alongside the rest of Ireland pre-1922 or as its own entity - though not in the Olympic Games, as the IOC has always recognised United Kingdom representative sides.

The Green and White Army is the name given to the fans that follow the Northern Ireland national football team

One of the first footballing celebrities was former Manchester United and Northern Ireland footballer George Best. The 1968 European Footballer of the Year, Best won 37 caps and scored 9 goals for his country.

Northern Ireland has competed in three FIFA World Cups, reaching the quarter-final stage in the 1958 and 1982 tournaments. UEFA Euro 2016 will be their first appearance at the continental tournament.

Northern Ireland have never sent a team to the UEFA European Championship, but a brilliant UEFA EURO 2016 campaign ended with an unexpected top spot in qualifying Group F.

For more info on NI national team’s performance on UEFA European Championship, visit http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/season=2016/teams/team=63/profile/index.html  and

http://www.irishfa.com/ifa-international/tournaments/euro-2016.

The Milk Cup is a successful international youth tournament held annually in Northern Ireland, in which clubs and national teams from anywhere in the world may compete. Northern Ireland also played host to the 2005 UEFA Under-19 European Championships.