1994 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 3

Group 3 consisted of seven of the 39 teams entered into the European zone:[1] Albania, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Spain. These seven teams competed on a home-and-away basis for two of the 12 spots in the final tournament allocated to the European zone, with the group's winner and runner-up claiming those spots. All of the games played in Spain were played in both the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán and Benito Villamarín stadiums in Seville because of the warmer weather there.

One of the most popular topics of the group was the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland being in the same group ('The Troubles' were still ongoing). The Republic would clinch qualification in the final round of games by drawing away to their northern rivals,[2] while Spain's 1–0 win over Denmark meant they qualified as winners. Spain qualified with the best record among the group winners. In one of the closest qualifying groups, just one point separated the top three sides. The Republic of Ireland qualified at Denmark's expense only on goals scored, as their points and goal difference were identical.

Standings
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Spain 12831274+2319
 Republic of Ireland 12741196+1318
 Denmark 12741152+1318
 Northern Ireland 125341413+113
 Lithuania 12237821−137
 Latvia 12057421−175
 Albania 12129626−204

Results
Spain 3–0 Albania
Míchel  2', 66' (pen.)
Hierro  87'		 Report
Attendance: 10,000
Northern Ireland 2–2 Lithuania
Wilson  13'
Taggart  16'		 Report Narbekovas  41'
Fridrikas  48'
Attendance: 4,500
Republic of Ireland 2–0 Albania
Aldridge  60'
McGrath  80'		 Report
Attendance: 29,727
Referee: Jaap Uilenberg (Netherlands)
Albania 1–0 Lithuania
Abazi  77' Report
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: Octavian Streng (Romania)
Latvia 1–2 Lithuania
Linards  15' Report Poderis  66'
Tereškinas  85'
Attendance: 6,897
Latvia 0–0 Denmark
Report
Attendance: 8,124
Referee: Alfred Wieser (Austria)
Republic of Ireland 4–0 Latvia
Sheedy  30'
Aldridge  59', 82' (pen.), 86'		 Report
Attendance: 32,000
Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden)
Northern Ireland 3–0 Albania
Clarke  14'
Wilson  31'
Magilton  44'		 Report
Attendance: 4,756
Referee: Marnix Sandra (Belgium)
Latvia 0–0 Spain
Report
Attendance: 6,220
Referee: Roger Philippi (Luxembourg)
Lithuania 0–0 Denmark
Report
Attendance: 10,500
Referee: Lube Spasov (Bulgaria)
Denmark 0–0 Republic of Ireland
Report
Attendance: 40,100
Northern Ireland 0–0 Spain
Report
Attendance: 10,343
Lithuania 1–1 Latvia
Fridrikas  85' Report Linards  44'
Attendance: 4,000
Albania 1–1 Latvia
Kepa  67' Report Aleksejenko  3'
Attendance: 3,500
Northern Ireland 0–1 Denmark
Report H. Larsen  51'
Attendance: 11,000
Spain 0–0 Republic of Ireland
Report
Attendance: 50,000
Spain 5–0 Latvia
Bakero  49'
Guardiola  51'
Alfonso  80'
Begiristain  82', 83'		 Report
Attendance: 19,000
Albania 1–2 Northern Ireland
Rraklli  90' Report Donaghy  15'
McDonald  41'
Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Vesselin Bogdanov (Bulgaria)
Spain 5–0 Lithuania
Cristóbal  5'
Bakero  12'
Begiristain  17'
Christiansen  86'
Aldana  90'		 Report
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Alfred Micallef (Malta)
Denmark 1–0 Spain
Povlsen  20' Report
Attendance: 40,272
Republic of Ireland 3–0 Northern Ireland
Townsend  20'
Quinn  22'
Staunton  28'		 Report
Attendance: 33,000
Denmark 2–0 Latvia
Vilfort  23'
Strudal  76'		 Report
Attendance: 29,000
Lithuania 3–1 Albania
Baltušnikas  20'
Sukristovas  25'
Baranauskas  63'		 Report Demollari  86'
Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Eyjólfur Olafsson (Iceland)
Republic of Ireland 1–1 Denmark
Quinn  75' Report Vilfort  27'
Attendance: 33,000
Referee: Rémi Harrel (France)
Spain 3–1 Northern Ireland
J. Salinas  21', 26'
Hierro  41'		 Report Wilson  11'
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Leif Sundell (Sweden)
Latvia 0–0 Albania
Report
Attendance: 3,100
Referee: Alan Howells (Wales)
Lithuania 0–1 Northern Ireland
Report Dowie  8'
Attendance: 6,500
Referee: Esa Palsi (Finland)
Albania 1–2 Republic of Ireland
Kushta  8' Report Staunton  12'
Cascarino  77'
Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Walter Cinciripini (Italy)
Denmark 4–0 Albania
J. Jensen  11'
Pingel  20', 40'
Møller  28'		 Report
Attendance: 39,503
Latvia 1–2 Northern Ireland
Linards  55' Report Magilton  4'
Taggart  15'
Attendance: 2,764
Referee: Piotr Werner (Poland)
Lithuania 0–2 Spain
Report Guerrero  73', 77'
Attendance: 4,500
Latvia 0–2 Republic of Ireland
Report Aldridge  14'
McGrath  42'
Attendance: 5,113
Lithuania 0–1 Republic of Ireland
Report Staunton  38'[4]
Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Roger Philippi (Luxembourg)
Denmark 4–0 Lithuania
L. Olsen  13'
Pingel  44'
B. Laudrup  64'
Vilfort  71'		 Report
Attendance: 40,282
Referee: Brági Bergmann (Iceland)
Albania 0–1 Denmark
Report Pingel  63'
Attendance: 8,000
Republic of Ireland 2–0 Lithuania
Aldridge  4'
Kernaghan  25'		 Report
Attendance: 33,000
Northern Ireland 2–0 Latvia
Quinn  35'
Gray  80'		 Report
Attendance: 6,400
Referee: João Pinto Correia (Portugal)
Albania 1–5 Spain
Kushta  40' Report J. Salinas  4', 30', 58'
Toni  18'
Caminero  67'
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Rémi Harrel (France)
Denmark 1–0 Northern Ireland
B. Laudrup  83' Report
Attendance: 40,242
Referee: Vadim Zhuk (Belarus)
Republic of Ireland 1–3 Spain
Sheridan  72' Report Caminero  11'
J. Salinas  14', 26'
Attendance: 33,000
Referee: Fabio Baldas (Italy)
Northern Ireland 1–1 Republic of Ireland
Quinn  74' Report McLoughlin  78'
Attendance: 10,500
Referee: Ahmet Çakar (Turkey)
Spain 1–0 Denmark
Hierro  63' Report
Attendance: 38,000

Goalscorers
7 goals
6 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal

Notes
  1. Only 37 of the entered teams actually competed in the qualification tournament: Germany qualified for the World Cup automatically as defending champions and Liechtenstein withdrew before the draw was made Additionally, Yugoslavia was suspended by FIFA due to UN sanctions stemming from the Yugoslav wars.
  2. 'There was poison in the air': 25 years on from that night in Windsor Park, Irish Times, 10 November 2018
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVCoKICFvFc
  4. Other sources attribute this goal as an own goal by Baltušnikas of Lithuania.
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