Only one of the countries competing in the Uefa Nations League match between the Republic of Ireland and Israel on Sunday in the Hungarian city of Debrecen are certain they want to fulfil the fixture.
“I’m not a psychologist and so I can’t give you an answer, but the preparation has definitely been unorthodox,” Heimir Hallgrímsson said after a grim 1-0 loss to Kosovo on Thursday night indicated that the din around facing Israel (twice in seven days) may have affected his squad in a negative way.
The Ireland manager has repeatedly stated that Fifa should hold Israel’s actions in Gaza to the same standard that warranted the suspension of Russia following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Hallgrímsson was pressed last week about whether he had any “dark nights of the soul” over his participation in this game. After the 59-year-old said Ireland were not playing with genocide but against it, the Israel FA accused him of “hypocrisy, ignorance, and stupidity”.
The Israeli players will respond to the comment by refusing to swap shirts with their Irish opponents.
The Icelandic coach is not alone. Ireland midfielder Jason Knight stated after defeat in Kosovo that he doesn’t think the Israel matches should go ahead.
“I expect everyone to play,” Hallgrímsson said, “I haven’t heard anything else.”
Troy Parrott reacts to a missed chance during Ireland’s Nations League defeat to Kosovo. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/INPHO
Former Ireland manager Brian Kerr and Kevin Kilbane, who won 110 caps for his country, have called for a boycott. Football Association of Ireland (FAI) sponsors’ brand logos will not be visible around the pitch during the live broadcast or in post match interviews.
FAI director of football John Martin believes the games should not be played, but the association’s chief executive, David Courell, and president, Paul Cooke, remain steadfast that the loss of earnings for an association servicing a €38 million debt, coupled with potential sanctions, is reason enough to play the games.
Courell did reveal that Uefa denied a request to keep the countries apart in the future, including the Euro 2028 qualifier draw in Belfast on December 6th. Uefa said the countries have never been in “direct conflict”.
The FAI did not request a ticket allocation for Debrecen, but as many as 300 Ireland fans could attempt to gain access to the Nagyerdei stadium. The venue holds 20,340 with general sales through the Israel FA requiring a passport and mobile number to access the seat map.
The highest attendance since Israel started using the venue in 2024 was 2,540 for last year’s 5-4 defeat of Italy.
Ran Ben-Simon’s squad arrived in Hungary on Friday after their 3-1 loss to Ralf Rangnick’s Austria in Linz. There was a viral moment during the game when Sayed Abu Farchi had equalised for Israel, only to be sent off after receiving a second yellow card for his excessive celebration, which rules the Colorado Rapids striker out of Sunday’s game.
Vedat Muriqi puts Kosovo ahead against Ireland on Thursday. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/INPHO
Israel are 76th in the fifa rankings, 21 places behind Ireland, but until Farkhi’s red card knocked them off course they had a good chance of sharing the points with the strongest team in the group.
Ireland assistant coach Paddy McCarthy works with winger Anan Khalaili at Crystal Palace, while Leeds United fans will remember Manor Solomon, who has hit the ground running at West Ham this season in the EFL Championship.
Oscar Gloukh, the Ajax playmaker, looked sharp against Shelbourne in the Uefa Conference League qualifier in August at the Johan Cruyff arena, although he was an unused substitute for the second leg at Tolka Park.
No Ireland player sustained an injury against Kosovo although yellow cards for Jayson Molumby and James Abankwah mean that a second caution would rule them out of the Austria game in Dublin on October 1st.
Changes are inevitable to the Ireland side after such a flat display in Pristina as Kosovo let makeshift wing backs, Abankwah and Liam Scales, get on as much ball as they wanted.
Ineffective performances from Finn Azaz and Chiedozie Ogbene were more surprising, with Hallgrìmsson pulling Ogbene aside at half-time.
“He just was one that I felt had an off day, his touches, connection … I was checking out how he was feeling, seeing if he would be okay in the second half and what we needed to change. We were open on our right side and they got in crosses and stuff from our right side.”
Shoring up the right flank is the least of Ireland’s worries as the FAI enter one of the more peculiar periods in its 105-year history.