Irish football has been enjoying a renaissance in the last few years. Higher League of Ireland attendances than ever before as a result of COVID, live TV broadcasting and European qualification have brought more eyes and interest to Irish football than we have seen in quite some time. While the Republic of Ireland national women’s team have enjoyed some success, competing in the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the men’s national team have not competed in a proper competition since Euro 2016. However, things may be changing.
Stephen Kenny was Ireland’s manager until November 2023, when his contract with the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) was not renewed. The team went without a permanent coach until July 2024, when Heimir Hallgrímsson was appointed as the new coach. Hallgrímsson had previously managed the Icelandic national team, Qatari team Al-Arabi, and most recently the Jamaican national team. The Irish national team had not enjoyed any moderate success since Giovanni Trapattoni’s stint between 2008 and 2013. Hallgrímsson seems set on changing that.
Ireland have only competed in the World Cup three times, 1990, 1994 and 2002. The memories of this era remain in the cultural zeitgeist of Irish football fans, especially Italia ‘90 and the 1994 World Cup under the management of Jack Charlton. This is widely considered as the golden age of Irish football.
Hallgrímsson’s initial start in charge was rocky, as Ireland only won two of six Nations League games, while losing the other four. They were thrashed 5-0 against England in November 2024, but they have remained undefeated in the five games they have played since.
Now, a new challenge is on the horizon: qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Republic of Ireland vs Hungary
Ireland were placed in a qualifying group with Portugal, Hungary, and Armenia. This was promising, as one of Ireland’s few wins in 2024 came in a 2-1 victory over the Hungarian national team.
Heimir Hallgrímsson and the players have spoken about the team beginning to gel and work better and play better, this got Irish fans excited.
Ireland’s first qualification game was on the 6th September against Hungary in the Aviva stadium. Spirits were high and that’s shown in the attendance. 50,137 spectators attended the first qualifying match. Ireland v Hungary was the most attended game of the qualifiers in Europe that week.
The game began terribly for Ireland, within 15 minutes, Hungary were winning 2-0. As the game went on, especially in the second half, Ireland dug in and began to look like the better side. In the 49th minute, Evan Ferguson got one back making it 2-1. Minutes later things got even better for the Boys in Green as Rolland Sallai was sent off by German referee Harm Osmers. The Irish kept pressure on the Hungarians but could just not find the back of the net. Ireland had a total of 23 shots, with 8 on target, compared to Hungary’s 9 shots with 6 on target. Ireland also had over four times the amount of touches in the opposition’s box compared to Hungary (49 / 11).
It looked hopeless for Ireland as injury time ticked on, but a perfect cross was floated in by Ryan Manning, finding the head of Adam Idah who nodded it into the back of the net, equalising in the 93rd minute. The Aviva stadium erupted. Ireland had pulled back a point from a game that was thought to be lost after 15 minutes.
While Hungary are a strong side, they are currently #38 in FIFA’s rankings. They don’t have any real star power on their team, other than of course Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai. If Ireland wanted a real chance at qualifying for the World Cup, they needed to beat Hungary in the Aviva stadium. Now, it’s down to playing well and getting maybe a lucky result or two at the expense of the other teams in the group.
The rest of the World Cup qualifiers
Ireland will face Armenia tomorrow (9th September) in Yerevan, tensions will be high. Ireland will need to beat Armenia both away and at home if they want any chance of even making the play-offs.
The Irish need a top two finish in the group, and given that Portugal are in the group, second place looks most likely. Unless Ireland pull off a miracle and somehow beat Portugal, which looks unlikely, it’s most likely that it will come down to the away day in Hungary in November, that’s if the possibility is even there. Shock wins from Hungary against Portugal or for Armenia against anyone could derail the campaign before it even leaves the station.
Who plays for the Republic of Ireland?
Ireland have a decent squad, while they may only be ranked #60 in the FIFA rankings, there is a great amount of talent on the Ireland squad.
The most notable on the squad is obviously Evan Ferguson, who is currently on loan to Serie A club Roma from Brighton. He was in a bit of a rough patch during his time playing for Brighton, not playing much or well. This move to Roma has already shown to bear fruits and the longer he is there, the better his form will be.
Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher is also a notable Premier League name, ex-Liverpool second goalkeeper and now Brentford’s main shotstopper.
There are a number of other names from the English Premier League who play for Ireland, including Nathan Collins, Josh Cullen, Sammie Szmodics, and Jake O’Brien.
