He led the country at the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden after they topped their qualification group ahead of Italy and Portugal.[17] At the tournament itself, Northern qualified for the knockout stages after finishing second in their group, having beaten Czechoslovakia, lost to Argentina and drew with West Germany.[18][19][20] Having finished level on points with Czechoslovakia, they then beat the Czechs 2–1 in a play-off game, with Peter McParland scoring a brace at the Malmö Stadion.[21] They were then eliminated after losing 4–0 to France in the quarter-finals.[22]