The footballer Peter McParland, who has died aged 91, will best be remembered for the five goals he scored in the 1958 World Cup finals for Northern Ireland as they made progress to the quarter-finals.
He averaged a goal a game during the tournament in Sweden, including two against West Germany in a 2-2 group stage draw and another brace in a 2-1 play-off victory against Czechoslovakia that put Northern Ireland into a quarter-final against France, which they lost 4-0 as they succumbed to exhaustion and injuries. Only Pelé, West Germany’s Helmut Rahn and France’s Just Fontaine scored more goals than McParland at those finals, and each of their teams went further than the last eight.
