Republic of Ireland v Hungary - Saturday, 6 September 2025 - 2026 World Cup Qualifier

[Kingdom]

Some more commentary from 88 on RTE. These are big comments from the management team. I suppose it probably falls into the bracket of collective psychology and getting the positivity flowing.
Irish media is a bit dramatic. Wembley was low, but to call it a humiliation...I dunno, it seems harsh to some degree. We were utterly, utterly comfortable until a moment of poor decision-making turned the game.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2025/0905/1532017-it-looks-like-they-are-taller-today-hallgrimsson/




The energy is coming, leaders are emerging; Heimir Hallgrimsson believes that the players have responded well to the clear and coherent instruction coming from the coaching staff, and the manager has also maintained that level of consistency when it comes to speaking about the World Cup qualifying campaign.

Confidence of qualification has been the manager's clear message since the opening days of his tenure, and based on what has been witnessed this week, the belief appears to be building throughout both players and coaching staff, with Paddy McCarthy declaring that Ireland are on the cusp of something special.

The road to the 2026 World Cup finally gets going in a six-game campaign, which the manager referred to as a sprint, with the entirety lasting just 70 days from Saturday until 16 November in Budapest for the return match with tomorrow’s opponents.

The final fixture could well prove decisive, however, this opener against Hungary is likely to set the tone for Hallgrimsson’s Ireland side and the manager is under no illusions regarding its importance.

"The energy is coming," said Hallgrimsson, speaking at the pre-match press conference. "I think more and more leaders are emerging, and I think that has been down to consistent messages to the players.

"Once you know what is expected, you become a better leader, so I think that is why people are feeling more secure. I feel there are more and more players now who are kind of growing, and that brings energy, leadership and confidence."

It is less than 12 months since Ireland were humiliated at Wembley Stadium, and while they have since recorded impressive performances with back-to-back wins against Bulgaria, it was no surprise that the manager was asked as to what this belief is based on.

"First of all it’s the team, I think we have a strong team, we are all in sync, we have all been tactically improving in every camp, in my opinion," he said.

"This is a young squad that, in the past, didn’t have many wins, so confidence was low. But I think they feel it themselves, they are getting stronger with every game we play, with every camp, and I feel the same.

"The quality in this team is big, it’s bigger than when I had Iceland, and we achieved what we did. There is more individual quality in this team. The team building thing is what gives me confidence."

And when asked where he saw the real development in the squad throughout his tenure over the last 12 months, the manager took his time, eventually answering after a pause, which certainly added to the drama of an opening World Cup campaign.

"Good question!" said Hallgrimsson. "I think it's been there all the time, but to see it kind of emerge and see it with my own eyes, that these players probably had low self-confidence from losing in the past, young players, and just seeing them growing.

"It looks like they are taller today than when I came a year ago, so that is what has been for me most impressive and that's why I say I feel the energy more now than I did in the beginning.

"A new coach, they probably didn't know what to expect but I have felt it slowly growing, this unity in the team now."

As for the campaign, Hallgrimsson is happy that the conversation is based on the race for second place with Hungary, rather than competing with Portugal for top spot and an automatic qualification berth.

Hallgrimsson, no doubt, can still visualise a path to that coveted top spot, however, he is pragmatic enough to lower expectations, knowing that beating Hungary on Saturday night is paramount to sending a statement and avoiding a slow start, which has hampered many a campaign in recent years.

"Yes, it’s natural, that’s the seeding in the group," he said, regarding targeting second spot.

"Portugal comes first, everybody expects Portugal to be first, and then it’s a small gap between ourselves and Hungary on the FIFA ranking, but still they are ranked higher than us, so everybody would expect that it will be between us.

"I think there are going to be dropped points in more places than just us and Hungary. But not kidding, this game is hugely important for the rest of the campaign, given the nature of the campaign, only six games in 70 days.

"It’s going to be a sprint and it’s always nice when you are in a sprint to have the lead and not be chasing."

And looking ahead to the game, Hallgrimsson can pick from a fully fit squad, with Liam Scales coming through a full training session on Thursday having arrived in camp a slight concern following the weekend’s Old Firm clash.

"No [injuries], pretty happy with the squad," said Hallgrimsson. "They’ve all been training, Scalesy was the only one that came in with a slight injury, but he trained fully yesterday and he’s going to train fully today, so a fit and ready squad.

"Everyone likes to play, but unfortunately we can only start with 11 players."

Confidence might be high in the Ireland camp, however, the manager is being very careful not to underestimate the opponents, and giving them complete respect ahead of the game, knowing the tough task that awaits.

"First, they have individual quality at a high standard," he said. "We know all about dead balls so don't give them free kicks in dangerous places.

"I think their strength is more collective; it's a team that has been playing together for a long time, a good age on this squad, at the top of their careers and they have had the same coach for lots of years.

"There is consistency in what they are trying to do and they are good at it - quick combinations, play, movement etc, there is a lot of understanding between individuals in this team. That is always good when you have a national team."

Only 11 can play, says the manager, however, he made sure to issue a rallying cry to the 50-odd thousand that will descend on Lansdowne Road on Saturday evening, wanting to make sure that the energy in the stands matches what’s happening in this ever-emerging squad.

"We can’t ask more people to come, because it’s a sell-out," said the manager. "But for those who come, definitely the same message that we have said before; come to create the atmosphere, come to become the 12th man, to make the atmosphere, don’t come just to enjoy it, make it happen with us, and together we can do amazing things."

[Eirambler]

The route to actually qualify for the finals is so difficult from our starting position that it's a near impossibility. We have to outperform one team that's higher ranked than us just to make the playoffs, and would then likely need to beat two more higher ranked teams - at least one away from home - to qualify for the finals.

All the fighting talk is great and everything, but realistically just making the playoffs at all from our position would be a sign of significant progress ahead of what is our real goal, getting to our home tournament at Euro 2028 and performing reasonably well if we do get there.

[pineapple stu]

Worth noting Germany lost in Slovakia last night - they'll probably still top the group (along with Luxembourg and the North) but there's a definite chance of both Germany and Italy in the playoffs.

Hungary are on the down a bit while Greece were on the up when we played them, so I'd hope to be more competitive than against them. But with that midfield and with Parrott out*, I think I'd take a draw now, even though it's not much good to us.

To lose and be effectively out of the running after one game yet again would be an utter pain in the hoop. There's only so many times you can say you're planning for the next campaign

* You could say that without Parrott tomorrow, our World Cup qualifying hopes are no more. They have ceased to be. Bereft of life they rest in peace. (And you get the idea)

[Kingdom]

The play-off route won't be any easier than the group route anyway (if Italy & Germany happen to be in the play-off route)(if that wasn't clear from my original post).

[Eirambler]

For me, if we can go toe to toe with Hungary over the two games, that will give me hope for the 2028 qualifiers, provided that HH then stays around and we don't get lumped with O'Shea.

I'd say Hungary are roughly where we would realistically aspire to be - around the top 20 in Europe, unlikely to be good enough to make a World Cup, but consistent qualifiers for the Euros.

They're probably roughly on a par with Wales and Scotland, who are the teams we will be competing against for the host spots at Euro 2028. We've shown that we've moved ahead of the likes of Finland and Bulgaria, which is progress from the Kenny years in itself, and this is the next step.

Beating them to second place in this group would represent major progress, even pushing them close and coming up just short would be progress relative to the last five years.

I think people forget how far we have fallen. Our seeding was destroyed by a man (and his merry band of followers) pushing an agenda to play football a certain way at the expense of actually winning games and maintaining our position in European football. It will take years to rebuild our seeding back to where it was.

[mark12345]

Worth noting Germany lost in Slovakia last night - they'll probably still top the group (along with Luxembourg and the North) but there's a definite chance of both Germany and Italy in the playoffs.

Hungary are on the down a bit while Greece were on the up when we played them, so I'd hope to be more competitive than against them. But with that midfield and with Parrott out*, I think I'd take a draw now, even though it's not much good to us.

To lose and be effectively out of the running after one game yet again would be an utter pain in the hoop. There's only so many times you can say you're planning for the next campaign

* You could say that without Parrott tomorrow, our World Cup qualifying hopes are no more. They have ceased to be. Bereft of life they rest in peace. (And you get the idea)

Im quite optimistic for an Irish win tomorrow. Smozdics will replace Parrot and not much will be lost in the big scheme of things. We have a distinct advantage for set pieces. If we use it to its fullest I am confident of an Irish victory

[Kingdom]

For me, if we can go toe to toe with Hungary over the two games, that will give me hope for the 2028 qualifiers, provided that HH then stays around and we don't get lumped with O'Shea.

I'd say Hungary are roughly where we would realistically aspire to be - around the top 20 in Europe, unlikely to be good enough to make a World Cup, but consistent qualifiers for the Euros.

They're probably roughly on a par with Wales and Scotland, who are the teams we will be competing against for the host spots at Euro 2028. We've shown that we've moved ahead of the likes of Finland and Bulgaria, which is progress from the Kenny years in itself, and this is the next step.

Beating them to second place in this group would represent major progress, even pushing them close and coming up just short would be progress relative to the last five years.

I think people forget how far we have fallen. Our seeding was destroyed by a man (and his merry band of followers) pushing an agenda to play football a certain way at the expense of actually winning games and maintaining our position in European football. It will take years to rebuild our seeding back to where it was.

Without derailing another match thread with the pro-anti-Kenny contributions, do you afford Kenny any slack whatsoever? In the context of picking and continuing to pick the players who are both mainstays and seasoned internationals now.

[Diggs246]

Without derailing another match thread with the pro-anti-Kenny contributions, do you afford Kenny any slack whatsoever? In the context of picking and continuing to pick the players who are both mainstays and seasoned internationals now.

Ah Stop Kingdom, Stephen was utterly hopeless. HH is trying to build a team and at the same time repair their confidence.

[zero]

Without derailing another match thread with the pro-anti-Kenny contributions, do you afford Kenny any slack whatsoever? In the context of picking and continuing to pick the players who are both mainstays and seasoned internationals now.

I don't personally cut him too much slack on this front - I don't really buy the argument that he 'brought through players'. The only thing you could say is maybe he capped them earlier than others would. Taking a random predicted lineup for tomorrow:

Kelleher
O'Brien Collins O'Shea Doherty
Cullen Knight
McAteer Azaz Manning
Ferguson

With the exceptions of McAteer and Knight, all of these players would have become regulars I think. Cullen and Doherty were already involved, SK didn't like Manning, Kelleher/Ferguson/Azaz/Collins/J O'Brien would have all been in squads regardless of the manager given their qualities and clubs the play for.

From the wider group, Idah, Molumby and Parrott are what I might consider players who mightn't have had the impact without being brought into the team early. He also cast aside Brady which in hindsight was a clear mistake. Got rid of Duffy too soon, then brought him back too late. Froze McClean out. This is all aside from the results of course.

[SkStu]

Without derailing another match thread with the pro-anti-Kenny contributions, do you afford Kenny any slack whatsoever? In the context of picking and continuing to pick the players who are both mainstays and seasoned internationals now.

I think the words of McCarthy and HH in the articles you posted (thank you kindly) speak to the groundwork that Kenny laid in terms of the youth that he brought into the fold when, lets be honest, he had little else to work with or where he had a choice between Average 28 Year Old and Promising 19 Year Old he chose youth. Its an admirable gamble however it didn't pay off for him in terms of success on the pitch. Whether you like it or not, it is standing us in good stead now and that is rightfully being recognized. Kenny was right insofar as pointing out the number of young players that got multiple caps under his leadership (he just banged on about it so much it rightly became a stick to beat him with).

[SkStu]

There’s a guy I’ve known since i was about 4 years old who was a close family friend and friend of his late father - along with being a big Liverpool and Ireland fan (from the north). I can’t remember his exactly quote now but it was something along the lines of “I can’t believe how the FAI have ****ed this up and how he’s not playing for Ireland”. It was certainly his belief that from a very very young age, it was very clear that Conor was the brightest prospect to come out of the north since Norman Whiteside and it would have been very easy to have courted him and made him feel wanted at an early age while the IFA were doing the same thing. And if they had done that, he would have chosen to have played for us. I’ve never heard anything to contradict that.

Whats your stance on fast tracking, es? For example, Moorhouse. Hes with us. Hes close to good enough now (for us) by all accounts. I know capping him now wouldnt tie him fully (Rice rules still apply, right?) - but it would make him ours. Make him harder to lose. NI/Wales all move quickly and aggressively on these guys. We seem to kick tyres way too much.

[pineapple stu]

I think people forget how far we have fallen. Our seeding was destroyed by a man (and his merry band of followers) pushing an agenda to play football a certain way at the expense of actually winning games and maintaining our position in European football. It will take years to rebuild our seeding back to where it was.
I think that's a little bit harsh - there's absolutely a large element of our fall that's down to having a squad that's been getting noticeably poorer year-on-year for the last 20 years or so.

Kenny absolutely had his faults, but when he had to pick League 1 players or kids who were a couple of years before being club-ready, let alone international-ready, then there's not much he can do about that. You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear (but then you don't have to make what Kenny made out of it either)

I remember in the early days of the Kenny reign saying he should call up McGeady when he had a little Indian summer at Sunderland - I think he had a bit of experience and creativity that we were really badly lacking at times. Maybe it's a black mark against Kenny that he never called McGeady up because he was so focussed on the younger players instead - but it's way more an indictment of our coaching here for decades that we'd gotten to a stage where a decent 35-year-old League One player was a genuine option for us because we had so few other options.

Our seeding has been destroyed by years of neglect at domestic level which has us scrounging around now for any eligible player who shows a turn of form but has been overlooked by other countries (Sammie, Cannon, Barry) - and that's no way to rebuild our seeding unfortunately.

[Eirambler]

Without derailing another match thread with the pro-anti-Kenny contributions, do you afford Kenny any slack whatsoever? In the context of picking and continuing to pick the players who are both mainstays and seasoned internationals now.

I would cut him a little bit of slack to the extent that he wasn't dealt a good hand in terms of the quality of players we had available at the time.

However, in consciously deciding to pull apart the McCarthy 2.0 team (limited and all as it was) and bringing in his young guns who were nowhere near ready to perform at that level, he made about as bad a job of the situation as it was possible to make.

From 2020 to 2023 we needed a wise old hand to guide us through what was always going to be a rough patch and steadily bring through some new faces as and when the time was right. Instead we got Stephen Kenny. The players he brought through would mostly have come through anyway (except for the occasional mad-cap pick like CJ Hamilton). They'd probably have been better served being introduced more slowly by a McCarthy type of manager into a more experienced, defensively set up team. It would likely have protected our ranking and seeding to some extent also.

Incidentally I saw some quotes this week from the Ireland camp about how much the players were enjoying the "clear and concise" instructions they were being given by the current management. Rightly or wrongly I took it as a bit of a subtle dig at Kenny, clear and concise were certainly not words I would ever have associated with him.

Maybe it was for the best that his time in charge coincided with one of our weakest ever periods in terms of squad strength. Possibly that limited the damage he could do to some extent, as we weren't going to qualify for anything anyway. But he absolutely hammered our seeding to a level it didn't need to drop to and we're paying the price for it now despite having a better team on the park.

Just one edit to my above comments on reflection - I actually think we might have squeezed into Euro 2020+1 under McCarthy. His solid, pragmatic style might have gotten us past Slovakia and the north. We'd have done nothing of note at the finals though.

[Diggs246]

Stephen didn't know when to make a substitution or tactically change formation and didn't even know how to conduct an interview.

He was extremely good at finding ways to lose a football match.

Can we just move on and look forward to tomorrow

I'm excited, I'm nervous and really confident we can win this football game tomorrow

[Kingdom]

Fair play lads, that was as civil as could be expected.

***
I'm excited, very nervous but not confident because I think we're over-egging average performances in 1) end-of-season friendlies against a) a second-string African side, and b) a **** Luxembourg side; 2) dogged rather than good performances against an awful Bulgarian side; and 3) we're missing Parrott.

Of course I want a positive result, but depending on team selection, I can see the ball being moved through us quickly early in the game and if we don't get a good start and get our foot on the ball a bit, our heads could be spinning - without trying to over-egg how good Hungary are (they aren't that good).

Go Ireland!

[Razors left peg]

I think its fair to say that even though Hallgrimsson has been in the job for a while now, we dont have a firm idea of what to expect from him and his teams. We have shown signs of improvement but we still have to see what it looks like in a game that actually matters. I dont think we have over egged the previous performances because we were pretty good at times and you can only judge on what we've seen.

Im cautiously optimistic

[Acornvilla]

Gald we still have time for another Kenny retrospective, a wonderful tradition, I hope it continues for decades to come.

I'm also cautiously optimistic about tomorrow. A big pity Parrott is out, but this is the strongest team we have had since the End of Mick/beginning of bossman Steo era's. There's talent and experience, a solid enough coaching ticket. Hungary a bit off their peak, if it's ever going to happen it's now!

I think there's still a lot of growth and improving in some of our guys mid 20's and under, but we deserve something good to happen for once don't we?

[nigel-harps1954]

There’s a guy I’ve known since i was about 4 years old who was a close family friend and friend of his late father - along with being a big Liverpool and Ireland fan (from the north). I can’t remember his exactly quote now but it was something along the lines of “I can’t believe how the FAI have ****ed this up and how he’s not playing for Ireland”. It was certainly his belief that from a very very young age, it was very clear that Conor was the brightest prospect to come out of the north since Norman Whiteside and it would have been very easy to have courted him and made him feel wanted at an early age while the IFA were doing the same thing. And if they had done that, he would have chosen to have played for us. I’ve never heard anything to contradict that.

Not to derail further, but from what I understand, he was committed only to Northern Ireland from a very young age and had no interest whatsoever in changing alliegance, which is information from people who know the lad himself and who have coached him at underage level. He was really well treated all through the youth ranks and through the Club NI process, and he's a fiercly loyal young fella to those who looked after him.

[John83]

Some more commentary from 88 on RTE. These are big comments from the management team. I suppose it probably falls into the bracket of collective psychology and getting the positivity flowing.
Irish media is a bit dramatic. Wembley was low, but to call it a humiliation...I dunno, it seems harsh to some degree. We were utterly, utterly comfortable until a moment of poor decision-making turned the game.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2025/0905/1532017-it-looks-like-they-are-taller-today-hallgrimsson/



There's only one set of people I know of who use "88" to refer to "HH" and they're about as welcome as a gas bill attached to a neo nazi.

[Eirambler]

From what I can tell, ourselves and Hungary are the last two teams worldwide to start our World Cup campaign (Armenia and Portugal kick off at 5pm). There are European teams that have already played five games and the South American teams have all played 17 games and we're finally getting going now - it's a strange system.

[liamoo11]

From what I can tell, ourselves and Hungary are the last two teams worldwide to start our World Cup campaign (Armenia and Portugal kick off at 5pm). There are European teams that have already played five games and the South American teams have all played 17 games and we're finally getting going now - it's a strange system.

That's mad. It's scary how quick our world Cup campaign is going to be over for good or bad

[liamoo11]

Not to derail further, but from what I understand, he was committed only to Northern Ireland from a very young age and had no interest whatsoever in changing alliegance, which is information from people who know the lad himself and who have coached him at underage level. He was really well treated all through the youth ranks and through the Club NI process, and he's a fiercly loyal young fella to those who looked after him.

I never understand what really well treated means. He was one of the top talents in his age group so of course he was well treated. Clearly he identifies as northern irish and wants to represent the North. That's his decision it's not anyone's fault on the FAI side

[pineapple stu]

That's mad. It's scary how quick our world Cup campaign is going to be over for good or bad
It's a bit crappy, isn't it? Ten weeks and that's it. A bad injury and a key player could miss the lot

Compare that to the longer groups - 10/12 games - which would be over a year and give you more to look forward to

[pineapple stu]

1-0 Portugal after 10 minutes

Wasn't expecting anything from that game, but that should be the start of a big Portugal win

[Eirambler]

0-3 at half time. Whatever happens tonight, we really have to be putting Armenia away in Yerevan.

[SkStu]

0-3 at half time. Whatever happens tonight, we really have to be putting Armenia away in Yerevan.

Yeah, watched the first half and said the same to a few others. No excuse not to beat these guys away and exact revenge for 2022.

[Eirambler]

I think McAteer will be very close after June. Question might be whether HH considers Manning to be strong enough defensively to play left back, or whether he wants to move Doherty across or play Scales there.

Kelleher
O'Brien Collins O'Shea Doherty
Cullen Knight
McAteer Azaz Manning
Ferguson

Different ways you can interpret the setup of the starting team. One is that it's the above, other than Szmodics starting instead of McAteer. Interesting that he has not picked any out and out wingers, looking to put more bodies into the middle perhaps.

[pineapple stu]

0-3 at half time. Whatever happens tonight, we really have to be putting Armenia away in Yerevan.

You'd hope Portugal are good to win all six games too and help our playoff chances

[mark12345]

Different ways you can interpret the setup of the starting team. One is that it's the above, other than Szmodics starting instead of McAteer. Interesting that he has not picked any out and out wingers, looking to put more bodies into the middle perhaps.

No Mikey Johnson or Chio or Szmodics in starting eleven? And surely Manning is left back, not left half? Doherty out of position it looks like

[Eirambler]

No Mikey Johnson or Chio or Szmodics in starting eleven? And surely Manning is left back, not left half? Doherty out of position it looks like

Could also be a 3-5-2/5-3-2 setup with Collins doing the stepping into midfield thing again. Should keep the Hungarians guessing right up to kickoff anyway.

Szmodics is starting by the way.

[mark12345]

Szmodics starting? That is good. Must have missed him in lineup

[SkStu]

3421 I’d say is the formation. Azaz and Szmodics off Fergie. I think that’s about as good a selection as we’d hope for and have some game changers on the bench too in Johnston and McAteer.

[pineapple stu]

Not four at the back, no? Manning on the wing rather than wingback then.

Either way, seems a sensible lineup given the options available

[Colbert Report]

How close is Ogbene to actually playing? I feel like his speed could be our secret weapon here.

[texidub]

Seems a bit harsh to have the 2nd place (in normal circumstances etc.) decider for the first match.

[texidub]

Ogbene prob come on 2nd half?

[Eirambler]

They're warming up with a back four and Doherty at left back. So it looks like it's the 4-2-3-1 setup I posted earlier.

[elatedscum]

Not in love with the lineup. Real lack of pace in the side. I think I wouldn’t want the right one to have been either Ogbene or McAteer, just to have something and also maybe need to pin Kerkez back a bit

[Eirambler]

Have to say I think the YBIG forum is an absolute cesspit at the best of times, but credit where it's due to them for the Show Israel The Red Card banner.

Likely a fine incoming for the association, but completely worth it in this case.

[rebelmusic]

Oh for god's sake...

[placid casual]

Matt Doherty...:))

[pineapple stu]

When was the last time we conceded so early?

Disaster of a start obviously, and we're not exactly looking up to much early doors in general

[Eirambler]

Already looking like the national scoreline of times past (1-1) would be a good outcome here.

[SkStu]

Collins not captain material imho. Having a fcking nightmare.

[texidub]

In fairness, don't like saying it, but Hungary are looking like a team that's 30 something places ahead of us in the rankings.

[pineapple stu]

This is probably worse than I'd have thought possible

We're actually shambles tonight

[SkStu]

Disaster. Goodnight Irene.

[texidub]

ah jayzus...

[joey B]

So bad it’s hard to believe,a shambles….

[third policeman]

This is beyond horrendous.