Republic of Ireland v Portugal - Thursday, 13th November - 2026 World Cup Qualifier

[Neish]

Immense performance from Ireland the best team performance in years. Scales , Collins & O Shea were the best for me keeping Portugal at bay. Coleman and Cullen excellent too, Parrott the hero though with one great poachers goal and the 2nd a great bit of individual class

Need to back it up now in Budapest on Sunday

[Fixer82]

That’s three red cards where players lost their heads against us.

Have we gotten really good at winding the opposition up?

[passinginterest]

The personality to the team is exactly it. Coleman at the back, Parrott up top and Cullen really stepped up in the middle. I think I’ve said that despite having 3 or 4 club captains on the pitch at times the team has looked leaderless. This was the opposite. Collins and O’Shea also showed plenty of character. That’s going to be badly needed again against Hungary. It made sense to give Troy that rest because he really does look like the key to unlocking more of the potential in that team now.

Honourable mention for Coventry coming on too. He looks a bit slow, but very disciplined and tidy. He might well start in Hungary.

[Nesta99]

Vasco DaGama, Ferdinand Magellan, Eusebio, Jose Mourinho, Nelly Furtado, Ana Dias, Razors missus!

Can you hear me Razors missus!

Your boys took one hell of a beating! Your boys took one hell of a beating!

You had to google some famos Portuguese didnt ypu, go on admit it;)

[Razors left peg]

vasco dagama, ferdinand magellan, eusebio, jose mourinho, nelly furtado, ana dias, razors missus!

Can you hear me razors missus!

Your boys took one hell of a beating! Your boys took one hell of a beating!

Sensational !!!!!

Shes not talking to me and its glorious

[Fixer82]

If Heimir leaves us soon at least he gave us one big night. Kenny never did that. Kerr and Stan never did that.
So it’s cause for celebration and I think he should be given more time because we’re starting to see the unity of the team now.

Maybe Yerevan was a catalyst for achieving that. Time will tell

[rebelmusic]

That’s three red cards where players lost their heads against us.

Have we gotten really good at winding the opposition up?

Remember HH talked about the team needing a *******? I do wonder if they've upped their banter against the players they're marking. I'd say O'Shea is a divil for it as well. Tony asked HH about it and he waved it off...but I do wonder.

I was fuming watching Collins pawing at Ronaldo in the tunnel but maybe there was a game plan involved.

[nigel-harps1954]

Second home qualifier I've missed since Covid.

I am not even slightly disappointed...:weep::weep:

[pineapple stu]

If Heimir leaves us soon at least he gave us one big night.
What's a comparable win I wonder? Germany was a bit lucky if we're honest - one of my favourite Ireland goals but we were second best against a wasteful Germany. Italy in the Euros - have to be sullied slightly by then making 8/9 changes or whatever it was. France 2009 might count if it hadn't been for extra time. And all those were 1-0 wins. Germany 1994 - is that our last two goal win against a top team? It can't be surely? Or did we beat Italy 2-0 in Belgium around 2012. Both friendlies of course

[joey B]

What's a comparable win I wonder? Germany was a bit lucky if we're honest - one of my favourite Ireland goals but we were second best against a wasteful Germany. Italy in the Euros - have to be sullied slightly by then making 8/9 changes or whatever it was. France 2009 might count if it hadn't been for extra time. And all those were 1-0 wins. Germany 1994 - is that our last two goal win against a top team? It can't be surely? Or did we beat Italy 2-0 in Belgium around 2012. Both friendlies of course

Croatia in 98 is the last time we beat a top team by 2 goals according to Kieran Cunningham on Twitter…

[Bottle of Tonic]

That was unreal boys and girls. I haven't been this buzzing after a match in years. Pain of Yerevan trip extinguished. Everything fell right for us but it shows what you can do in football if you get the controllables right. Shape, selection, tactics, desire, application.

[Fixer82]

Croatia in 98 is the last time we beat a top team by 2 goals according to Kieran Cunningham on Twitter…

In a competitive home game yep.

Interestingly, Sadlier correctly said, nobody mentioned missing Ferguson once during the game

[Nesta99]

Croatia had finished 3rd in the WC months before. Had 'seats' 4th row behind the goal, Irwin peno and Keane header, will never forget that one. Not that it matters but England lost too that day. Id rate tonight up there with that game though the levels the respective Irish sides players were playing at at club level isnt comparable.

Tbh I didnt watch the game tonight. Couldnt bar to check score and when we were in front then the old superstition side of being a football fan kicked in so Im taking full credit for tonights win by not watching!

[tetsujin1979]

Croatia in 98 is the last time we beat a top team by 2 goals according to Kieran Cunningham on Twitter…
Posted the full list here
1989119986242318766

[SkStu]

That, erm, Lithuania win in 1997 was massive… :D

[Insidetherock]

Croatia had finished 3rd in the WC months before. Had 'seats' 4th row behind the goal, Irwin peno and Keane header, will never forget that one. Not that it matters but England lost too that day. Id rate tonight up there with that game though the levels the respective Irish sides players were playing at at club level isnt comparable.

Tbh I didnt watch the game tonight. Couldnt bar to check score and when we were in front then the old superstition side of being a football fan kicked in so Im taking full credit for tonights win by not watching!

Me too.. though watched the last 5 mins 😬

[tetsujin1979]

That, erm, Lithuania win in 1997 was massive… :D

Often overlooked as last time we won an away game against higher ranked opposition in a qualifier until beating Austria in 2016. Most people thought it was Scotland in 1987, before rankings were introduced but still regarded as a better side

[geysir]

What's a comparable win I wonder? Germany was a bit lucky if we're honest - one of my favourite Ireland goals but we were second best against a wasteful Germany. Italy in the Euros - have to be sullied slightly by then making 8/9 changes or whatever it was. France 2009 might count if it hadn't been for extra time. And all those were 1-0 wins. Germany 1994 - is that our last two goal win against a top team? It can't be surely? Or did we beat Italy 2-0 in Belgium around 2012. Both friendlies of course
i really don't get what you are referring to, Germany at Croke Pk were not wasteful that evening, they didn't do enough throughout that game to threaten our goal apart from one or two chances near the end when Ireland by default resorted to hold-out mood, there was no luck involved, likewise this evening Portugal did not do enough to threaten Caoimhín throughout the game, I think he just had to make one decent but expected save.

In a way the games are comparable in that two top teams failed to perform to their level in Dublin, failed to threaten our goal and Ireland deservedly beat both teams.

[SkStu]

I’ve calmed a bit now. Epic performance all round. I was expecting the worst before and even at h/t I thought we were set up for disappointment but we weathered the first 10 mins after and then came right back into it. Could and should have scored more.

Performances all round we fantastic. Kelleher is a top talent, makes it all look easy and his distribution was great especially in the first half. Lovely save near the end too. Coleman was the wily veteran and the heartbeat of the team. He brings the best out of the back line, true leader even if not the captain. Thought the back three were impeccable all round, finally a top performance from Collins. O’Shea got in Ronnie’s head and Jake was just calmness. He’s fit in well. Scales did a fine job, that assist was simple hit sensational; how often do you see the player try and score there or fluff the knock back but he nailed it. Midfield were good too. Best Cullen performance I can remember ably assisted by Taylor. Azaz had his best performance in green too and Ogbene looks back to his best. He really does give us a relief valve for games like this. Parrott led the line impeccably - first goal was pure striker instinct and that run and finish for the second goal was phenomenal. Knew exactly when he was doing. Thought the subs all did well apart from Festys blooper reel but it was the right change and I was calling for him to come on when he did just wasn’t really his night. But it was the teams night a real 1-11 performance where we actually deserved the win and won comfortably. Delighted for HH too and his much maligned backroom team. They get a lot of criticism, a lot of it deserved but they’ll enjoy that and they’ve earned it. I think we’d be mad not to keep him on irrespective of Sunday.

Roll on Budapest, after this you get the feeling it might well be another special night…

The hard times make these nights that bit sweeter. COYBIG!

[backstothewall]

What a night that was.

For context I was on the fence about renewing my season ticket this time. It all seemed so hopeless. My brother gave his up. Tonight was his last game. It's all seemed so hopeless recently.

One of the guys we sit with couldn't go tonight, so we both brought our kids along. My son (8) and his 2 eldest boys (10 & 8). It was my son's first Ireland game.

My eldest nephew is sitting his 1st 11+ exam on Saturday morning, and my lad has some sensory issues around loud noises, but tonight shouldn't have been a problem. The plan was they would all get a look at Ronaldo and eat some overpriced chips. Portugal would be 2 or 3 up after an hour and we would slip away with 20 minutes to go. We would be through the port tunnel and heading for the border by the time the final whistle was blown. Everyone would be in bed before midnight. No harm done.

Things did not go according to plan.

First we scored. The stadium erupted. My son, who as i said isn't much of a man for the loud noises does not like this. I hug him and cover his ear for the worst of it. He's just about settled when Azaz makes that tackle. We're outraged. That's the sort of tackle we love. "How is that a yellow ref? He got the f**king ball. It's not even a free kick"

Too much noise again. It's time to head in the the concourse for a bit of down time. As we're walking out a lovely guy from Civil Defence who's there on First Aid duty see's he's crying and asks if he had hurt himself. I say no and explain the situation and just like that we're in the First Aid station and the Civil Defence guys are showing him the equipment they have there and are generally making a fuss of him. Once it's time to let them get back to their jobs we say thank you and head back out to our seats. We sit down. I'd say we were back for maybe about 40 seconds. We score again. This time it's even louder. The son is distraught. I'm ecstatic but trying to settle him again. This is both horrendous and incredible. This really wasn't the way things were supposed to go tonight.

It was an evening I don't think either of us with ever forget. Given the goalscorer's name I'd expect every newpaper in the country will use some version of this tommorow, but it was a night when hope and history rhymed.

Football. Bloody hell.

[Crosby87]

Just wish Saint and Greavsie were alive to see it.

If it was the old days we would all be at crackbird right now.

[elatedscum]

****ing hell. Hell of a win. Wasn’t convinced until about the 94th minute.

A performance of men. I think we probably got into the Portugal box a dozen times and should have scored more a few more with Ogbene, Azaz, Ebosele and Johnston all with big chances and we had another handful where the final pass just let us down or a heavy touch to a ball over the top ended the attack. We really exploited their vulnerability.

To do that while missing:

Doherty, Manning, Brady, O’Dowda, Knight, Lawal, Molumby, Smallbone, Sykes, Szmodics, Ferguson.

You don’t want to have to bring a debutant on while you’re holding out against Portugal but Conor Coventry did well. Adam Idah would frustrate you so much. The lack of work rate in those late minutes was really frustrating. We were giving them grief with our running power and Idah just wasn’t up for chasing every ball in the channel where he was second favourite.

Great to see Ogbene finally look close to being physically the player he was before the injury. In September and October, he just looked so off it. Was much better tonight.

Kelleher made that one vital save and had a really good game. Coleman was superb, especially considering his lack of game time. I genuinely think the biggest mistake HH has made so far as Ireland manager was leaving Coleman out of the irish squad for the first games which included the Armenia away game.

Really good to see Robbie Brady involved on the sideline with the players, exactly what you’d want.

Big game on Sunday. Really good that we have Manning and Molumby fresh to come in. Hopefully HH has the cojones to make changes to the team who played tonight. We are 100% gonna need fresh legs given the shift that went on tonight.

[texidub]

Like a result from another dimension. Impossible to explain - could a recent spike in solar flare activity be the real reason?

One thing I noticed on the pitch is that instead of taking 10-20+ passes to go from defence to attack last noight we went for the attacking ball very quickly. I think that made a huge difference and is obviously what we need to be doing every game - we have the pace up front. Delighted for Parrott.

[texidub]

Was just walking through Clonsilla about 30 minutes ago -nasty morning out there- and the team bus went by. Loads of kids on their way to school were cheering and waving and clapping... one young fella shouts "F you Ronaldo" and all his mates cracked up.. great to see the buzz.

[pineapple stu]

i really don't get what you are referring to, Germany at Croke Pk were not wasteful that evening, they didn't do enough throughout that game to threaten our goal apart from one or two chances near the end when Ireland by default resorted to hold-out mood
Ah that's just true though. The highlights (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVkhtit5wHw) show plenty of chances for Germany, with 6 in the first 20 minutes alone, including a disallowed goal and some great last-ditch defending. Our only chances is a scuffed effort from Walters. The last ten minutes only show a tame header straight at Randolph.

By contrast last night we were 2-0 up by half-time, and had hit the post in between, and were looking dangerous on the counter even before we scored. Against Germany, we had 5 shots (and only one real chance), but we had 14 against Portugal. We were a consistent thorn in their side in a way we simply weren't against Germany. And I think that's the bit that sets it above Germany for me - yes, we defended deep at times, but we knew exactly how to hit Portugal quickly on the counter, and did so repeatedly. A "tactically excellent performance", a Polish mate of mine called it after. That's what sets it above Germany for me.

That said, I do like the similarities in Parrott's celebration for the opener and Long's against Germany.

[Fixer82]

What a night that was.

For context I was on the fence about renewing my season ticket this time. It all seemed so hopeless. My brother gave his up. Tonight was his last game. It's all seemed so hopeless recently.

One of the guys we sit with couldn't go tonight, so we both brought our kids along. My son (8) and his 2 eldest boys (10 & 8). It was my son's first Ireland game.

My eldest nephew is sitting his 1st 11+ exam on Saturday morning, and my lad has some sensory issues around loud noises, but tonight shouldn't have been a problem. The plan was they would all get a look at Ronaldo and eat some overpriced chips. Portugal would be 2 or 3 up after an hour and we would slip away with 20 minutes to go. We would be through the port tunnel and heading for the border by the time the final whistle was blown. Everyone would be in bed before midnight. No harm done.

Things did not go according to plan.

First we scored. The stadium erupted. My son, who as i said isn't much of a man for the loud noises does not like this. I hug him and cover his ear for the worst of it. He's just about settled when Azaz makes that tackle. We're outraged. That's the sort of tackle we love. "How is that a yellow ref? He got the f**king ball. It's not even a free kick"

Too much noise again. It's time to head in the the concourse for a bit of down time. As we're walking out a lovely guy from Civil Defence who's there on First Aid duty see's he's crying and asks if he had hurt himself. I say no and explain the situation and just like that we're in the First Aid station and the Civil Defence guys are showing him the equipment they have there and are generally making a fuss of him. Once it's time to let them get back to their jobs we say thank you and head back out to our seats. We sit down. I'd say we were back for maybe about 40 seconds. We score again. This time it's even louder. The son is distraught. I'm ecstatic but trying to settle him again. This is both horrendous and incredible. This really wasn't the way things were supposed to go tonight.

It was an evening I don't think either of us with ever forget. Given the goalscorer's name I'd expect every newpaper in the country will use some version of this tommorow, but it was a night when hope and history rhymed.

Football. Bloody hell.


Fantastic! I know that feeling. Had to leave my seat at the Armenia game for a little walk around with my 8 year old when it was getting noisy. It’s a killer but has to be done

[nr637]

Have to say Collins was very good, as I have my doubts about him at International level, as he seems to perform well with Brentford more!

[Fixer82]

i really don't get what you are referring to, Germany at Croke Pk were not wasteful that evening, they didn't do enough throughout that game to threaten our goal apart from one or two chances near the end when Ireland by default resorted to hold-out mood, there was no luck involved, likewise this evening Portugal did not do enough to threaten Caoimhín throughout the game, I think he just had to make one decent but expected save.

In a way the games are comparable in that two top teams failed to perform to their level in Dublin, failed to threaten our goal and Ireland deservedly beat both teams.

That game was not Croke Park, it was Lansdowne.
When Germany came to Croke park it was 0-0 and they had already qualified.
Andy Reid had a great game and controlled midfield with his passing. We all thought he’d be a future captain but then Trap came to town

[nr637]

Did Ireland's new President Catherine Connolly attend the Ireland v Portugal game last night!

[Fixer82]

Did Ireland's new President Catherine Connolly attend the Ireland v Portugal game last night!

I don’t think so.
What a game for her to miss.
I was supposed that the teams came out and kind of just went straight into the anthems

[Kingdom]

Sensational !!!!!

Shes not talking to me and its glorious

Imagine what she'll be like when she hears the result of the match!!

[Eminence Grise]

Did Ireland's new President Catherine Connolly attend the Ireland v Portugal game last night!

No, and I was very disappointed. The most talked-about old-fashioned left winger in recent times, albeit not great on the offensive but capable of solid defending when tricky questions are being asked, just didn’t show. It may be something to do with being Ireland’s new No 10, and needing time to get used to the new role, which will probably require some drifting towards the centre now and then.

[OMTY]

Ah lads. I work in a more rugby/D4 orientated office. I get plenty of jibes (nothing too mad) when I mention going to Ireland matches and having a season ticket. A few of our group pulled the plug on renewing this year and last, not just football related but the results certainly didn't encourage any borderline lads. Last night is why we as supporters go through the dross, it's like a drug, you wait years and years for that one night which makes it worthwhile. Now please let them become a bit more frequent.

[Kingdom]

Ah lads. I work in a more rugby/D4 orientated office. I get plenty of jibes (nothing too mad) when I mention going to Ireland matches and having a season ticket. A few of our group pulled the plug on renewing this year and last, not just football related but the results certainly didn't encourage any borderline lads. Last night is why we as supporters go through the dross, it's like a drug, you wait years and years for that one night which makes it worthwhile. Now please let them become a bit more frequent.

100% understand this pain, and the cure.

[Kingdom]

I'd need to watch the match back again without the emotion involved, but my gut reaction last night was Dara O'Shea was the clear man of the match from start to finish - for one reason above all else: not only did he perform his own role well, he kept an invisible rope tied around himself, Scales and Collins and didn't shut up from the first minute to the last.

In a defensive unit which (rightly) was pilloried over the past year for poor communication, lack of bravery, etc., that was put right over two matches against the Porto-geezers, but crucially last night (as opposed to Lisbon) the comms department at the back stuck to their task entirely. And this included when Festy moved over to the left-inside-centre channel - O'Shea screaming at him a number of times to form the tip of the triangle with himself and Scales. it was great to watch.

Als

[tetsujin1979]

It's on the rte player

[shakermaker1982]

Fantastic performance from the players and well done to the coaching team. After 5 minutes I thought we looked really organised and we’d be hard to break down. You could tell all the players bought into it and it was clear to see they are playing for the manager.

When we did win the ball we always looked to play forward at pace. The Portuguese back 4 struggled with our attacking players for most of the evening (until Idah came on really).

Best performance in years and a breakout performance from Parrott.

[Predator]

After Troy Parrott, I was most impressed by Seamus Coleman, who is arguably still the best player we have in terms of talent and experience. His experience in the breakdown moments (both when we had to defend and when we had the opportunity to counter) really inspired confidence in those around him. He's still the leader of that team - you could see him berate Collins for engaging with the whinging Ronaldo in the aftermath of the elbow incident, when the ref was consulting VAR. A timely reminder of the folly of hastily sidelining our top talent simply because they are getting on - he's the captain, still on the books at a Premier League club after all and has never really let us down.

While I wouldn't quite go as far as giving him MOTM, Dara O'Shea deserves a lot of credit, I agree. In the first half he happily ate the foul from Cancelo, getting him a yellow, then set up Parrott's second goal with a clever first-time ball over the top and he played Ronaldo like a 3lb trout for the red card. I've always felt he's been the best of our young CB talent, which is why he has 40 caps already - more than John Egan has. He's shown it over a long period of time, even going back four years to Faro when he got under Ronaldo's skin by rolling the ball off the spot before Bazunu saved the penalty. It has to be said that O'Shea was complemented by the work of Liam Scales, too. This was probably his best game too.

[Kingdom]

Fantastic performance from the players and well done to the coaching team. After 5 minutes I thought we looked really organised and we’d be hard to break down. You could tell all the players bought into it and it was clear to see they are playing for the manager.

When we did win the ball we always looked to play forward at pace. The Portuguese back 4 struggled with our attacking players for most of the evening (until Idah came on really).

Best performance in years and a breakout performance from Parrott.

**** me there's a blast from the past!!!!

[ontheotherhand]

I'd need to watch the match back again without the emotion involved, but my gut reaction last night was Dara O'Shea was the clear man of the match from start to finish - for one reason above all else: not only did he perform his own role well, he kept an invisible rope tied around himself, Scales and Collins and didn't shut up from the first minute to the last.

In a defensive unit which (rightly) was pilloried over the past year for poor communication, lack of bravery, etc., that was put right over two matches against the Porto-geezers, but crucially last night (as opposed to Lisbon) the comms department at the back stuck to their task entirely. And this included when Festy moved over to the left-inside-centre channel - O'Shea screaming at him a number of times to form the tip of the triangle with himself and Scales. it was great to watch.

Als

Yeah I thought O'Shea was our best player. Troy got motm for obvious reasons but that win was built on defending. Coleman was also fantastic.

A great result but the worry is that we've usually played fairly well with our backs to the wall. We added pretty clinical finishing last night to get the win but the Hungary game will be a different challenge.

[elatedscum]

worth mentioning as not mentioned above, Cullen was also really great. Best display ever (or in a long time at least). Really looked like a premier league midfielder. Both aggressive out of possession and composed in it.

[Nesta99]

Coleman just does bring that passion and urgency. If he isnt captain he is the defacto leader. The Portuguese moaning about the red card Im enjoying not because its Ronaldo 'n stuff, but its a throw back to times when more talented sides just really hated playing us because we could stop them playing and it really frustrated them. One old Italia 90 story is Schillachi, obviously scored the winner, bit fortunate too, but when he was interviewed after he had 2 black eyes. Its not quite like that but these top sides are tempermental and they dont handle it too well when they feel disrespected and its hilarious, the post match interviews about disappontment about mind games when they love throwing themselves to ground and rolling around (though there wasnt any of that last night).

Conundrum for Sunday, approach the game on a more equal footing or stand off and hit on the break - when you need to win and they can stick, sit in themselves, a mexican standoff doesnt suit us. Nor does being on the front foot as previously we have been vulnerable to the break. I dunno, I almost hate the hope even if I wouldnt have i any other way.

[nigel-harps1954]

worth mentioning as not mentioned above, Cullen was also really great. Best display ever (or in a long time at least). Really looked like a premier league midfielder. Both aggressive out of possession and composed in it.

100% on this. Cullen was utterly superb.

[the 12 th man]

If ever the total was more than the sum of the parts it was last night,incredible performance.

[Nesta99]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypx2jB4BoAU

About 3.27 in the leadership and experience of Coleman is evident. Maybe a wee issue with kind of overuling designated captain. But he was making sure that Ronaldo couldnt engage and deflect, spread the blame and cards. Then as ref is waiting for VAR to call the check he is standing in between Ronaldo and any potential for an Irish play to approach. Leaving the ref to do the job. I know there is no need to prove Coleman's leadership but I think this is a fine example to anyone in the game on how to handle things, not get distracted, focus, and keep out of trouble. Wasnt an Irish player stupidly booked while one of the other opposition red cards was give in one of the previous games.

[John83]

One old Italia 90 story is Schillachi, obviously scored the winner, bit fortunate too, but when he was interviewed after he had 2 black eyes.
I'm all for spirited and physical football, but counter argument: if you have to give a footballer two black eyes to keep him from scoring more than once, you're a dirty cheat and you deserved to lose.

[Nesta99]

Well it was Mick McCarthy, a different era and probably more anectdotal than factual thuggery, probably told by Scilacchi himself. The point just being a team that sides genuinely dislike playing. At this stage Im on the win at all costs side of an argument, mostly! Wouldnt be at all bothered by a Trap like comment on our players lack of technique now if we leveling the playing field at all.

[zero]

it will sound petty but jesus there's plenty of that from the other side - nice to soften the cough of the NI fanbase for the first in a long time aswell.

[Fixer82]

I'm all for spirited and physical football, but counter argument: if you have to give a footballer two black eyes to keep him from scoring more than once, you're a dirty cheat and you deserved to lose.

I'm absolutely fine with us having one or two hard bast@rds at the back who strikers hate playing against. Every team needs their enforcers.

[pineapple stu]

The highlights are up. You know you want to watch again!

Though if doesn't have Johnston's chance in the last minute. That felt like a bad miss to me, but didn't have a great view of it. Anyone see it on tell?

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