After failing to qualify for the 1986 world cup, the Irish were in search of qualification for their first ever major competition and found themseles in a Euro 88 qualifying group that included Belgium, Scotland, Bulgaria and Luxembourg. They started off the campaign earning a creditable draw in Brussels before being held in Dublin against Scotland. In February 1987 they enjoyed a fine 1-0 win in Glasgow against the Scot’s which was followed by comfortable home and away victories against Luxembourg. They rounded off their qualification campaign with a fine 2-0 home win against Bulgaria to top the group and qualify for the 1988 European championships. In preparing for the finals, they won all four of their friendly matches against Israel, Romania Yugoslavia and Poland. In their opening match of the 1988 European championships, they met England at Stuttgart and heroically won the match 1-0, with the goal coming from Ray Houghton and it also proved to be a great day for Pat Bonner as he made a sting of fine saves. The Irish met the Soviet Union in their next match; it ended as a 1-1 draw with Ronnie Whelan scoring an incredible goal. They lost their final match against the future European champions, Holland, 1-0.
The Irish were in a group containing Spain, Hungary, Northern Ireland and Malta in qualification for Italia 90. After a creditable draw in Budapest and defeat away at Spain, the Republic of Ireland won their last five qualification matches to ensure a place in the 1990 world cup finals. Just before Italia 90 commenced, they played a string of friendly matches against Wales, Soviet union, Finland and Turkey.
Their opening match of the finals were played in the most miserable conditions in a horrific night in Cagliari, in what was a poor match to watch, the Irish stormed back from being a goal behind as Kevin Sheedy earned the Irish a draw. The Irish progressed to the second round thanks to a late goal scored by Niall Quinn to equalize against Holland. David O’Leary scored the winning penalty for the Republic of Ireland against Romania and they finally stumbled out in the quarter finals, suffering a narrow 1-0 defeat against the hosts, Italy. The 1990 world cup squad of the Republic of Ireland included Kevin Moran, Mick McCarthy, Tony Cascarino, Steve Staunton, Ronnie Whelan, Gerry Payton, Paul McGrath, Kevin Sheedy and Alan Mcloughlin.