After failing to qualify for the 1976 European championships, the Irish went in search of qualification for the 1978 world cup. After defeating Poland and Norway in friendly matches, they arrived with confidence in their match against France in Paris in November 1976; however any confidence they had was shattered as they suffered a 2-0 defeat. They kept alive hopes of qualifying with a 1-0 win over the French in March 1997 however defeat against Bulgaria at Sofia in June resulted in failure to qualify for the world cup. For the qualification campaign of the 1980 European championships, they were in a group that featured Denmark, Bulgaria, England and Northern Ireland. They began the campaign with a thrilling 3-3 draw in Copenhagen against Denmark. After enduring two draws against England and Northern Ireland, victory against Denmark in Dublin gave them an outside chance of qualifying. Any hopes of qualification were crushed as they suffered back to back defeats against Bulgaria and Northern Ireland as they slipped right down the qualification section.