Playing for the first time as the Republic of Ireland, they suffered two defeats at home and away against Italy in 1926. During the early years, the Republic of Ireland was not a major force in football around the continent. They played friendly matches frequently against Hungary, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium. They failed to qualify for the 1934 world cup finals, suffering a 5-2 defeat against Holland. They faced Norway in their qualification match for the 1938 world cup finals, however suffered a 6-5 defeat on aggregate. They suffered many miserable results in friendly matches played, including a 6-0 defeat in Warsaw against Poland. Their finest result while playing friendly matches before 1950 was a fine 4-0 win in Dublin against Switzerland in September 1938. The Republic of Ireland were in a 1950 world cup qualification section that included Finland and Swede. They started off the campaign suffering a 3-1 defeat in Stockholm against the Swedes. A 3-0 win over Finland in 1949 was encouraging, however a 3-1 defeat against Sweden in Dublin killed off hopes of qualification for the finals.