England plumbed new depths of embarrassment as their World Cup qualification hopes took a battering in Belfast, with David Healy firing Northern Ireland to perhaps the greatest victory in their history.

Sven-Goran Eriksson claimed his side could compete with Brazil next summer. Not with these tactics, certainly not with this lack of leadership from their manager and certainly not by a team going backwards fast in international terms.

To make matters even worse, if that was possible, Wayne Rooney ruled himself out of the next qualifier, at home to Austria next month, with his second booking of the campaign. It was that sort of night.

Eriksson was once again left powerless on the bench, suffering the pain of being beaten by the side ranked 116th in the world as Healy's 74th-minute winner flew past Paul Robinson.

''Are you Scotland in disguise?'' taunted the home fans. Certainly not, for the Scots are a winning side again, courtesy of a 2-1 success in Norway.

England, meanwhile, are getting worse, not better. Routed 4-1 in Denmark, they scraped past Wales in Cardiff but have now hit another low.

Make no mistake, this Northern Ireland side may have made history and deserve every accolade coming their way after a performance which will be remembered for decades in these parts.

However, their weekend win against Azerbaijan was their first competitive victory in almost four years. Their second followed just four days later.

Boss Lawrie Sanchez, the inspiration behind Wimbledon's 1988 FA Cup final upset against Liverpool, confounded the odds once again.

Eriksson, meanwhile, could only watch helplessly as his side's failings were painfully exposed. Beat Brazil? On this form, they would struggle against Barnet.

England's out-of-form midfield ran down dead-end channels, Michael Owen was left isolated up front and, most damagingly of all, Rooney was sapped of his creative influence, as much by his role as his lack of support.

While Rooney's temperament is as fragile as ever, the England coach bears some responsibility for the striker's absence against Austria as his role on the left flank demanded him to track back and make desperate tackles.

For Sanchez' side were up for it from the off, plunging into full-blooded challenges as England were knocked out of their stride amid the blustery conditions.

With Rooney a depressingly isolated figure out on the left flank, David Beckham instead concentrated on firing long balls out to the other wing, from where Shaun Wright-Phillips had set up the winner against Wales. This time, however, there was no promise of a repeat performance. Beckham did rattle the woodwork with a free-kick, while Owen directed an overhead kick straight at keeper Maik Taylor just before the break.

Northern Ireland were not unduly troubled and Rooney's frustration was clearly growing. Indeed, when he was denied a free-kick just before half-time, he blasted the ball into the opposition's half in anger.

Beckham marched over to urge the teenager to calm down but was met with a four-letter verbal volley as Rooney promptly launched himself, arm-first, into a dangerous challenge on Keith Gillespie.

He was fortunate only to be booked - despite still being ruled out of the Austria game - but he had not calmed down yet.

When he charged into another arm-first challenge on Chris Baird, Swiss referee Massimo Busacca's leniency only just continued and a final warning was issued.

Rooney re-emerged after the interval with a very public hug for Beckham in the way of an apology but England were little improved and Joe Cole soon replaced Wright-Phillips.

Determined to make his mark after being dropped despite his match-winning goal against Wales, Cole quickly crossed for Owen to flick a header wide, while Lampard's long-range effort was tipped round the post.

However, it was the Northern Irish who rallied instead, with James Quinn firing an effort just wide, while Robinson gratefully grasped a dangerous low cross by Healy. The warning signs were not heeded.

Steve Davis then clipped the ball forwards into the path of Healy, who had evaded the offside trap, and the Leeds striker brought the ball down on his instep before firing an unstoppable shot into the far corner.

Eriksson brought on Jermain Defoe for Gerrard and Owen Hargreaves for Lampard but it was the home side who threatened again on the break through Healy, with substitute Warren Feeney also just inches away from a second.