Last two pages moved to a new political discussion thread here - https://foot.ie/threads/299641-Natio...cal-Discussion
All political discussion to be kept to that thread only.
Any political posts here will be deleted, no warnings
Before I get accused of favouring one poster or one argument over another, I hit select all on the last two pages and moved the posts. I don't know, or particularly care, who or what posts were moved.
Last edited by tetsujin1979; 04/03/2026 at 1:58 PM.
Good call. And **** Israel.
As I said above I wouldn't fancy moderating this at all but I fear the politics of this will prove to be inseperable from the sporting side. I expect this fixture to bleed into completely unrelated issues in Irish football (and society generally) at regular intervals until the Autumn. Probably starting at Oriel Park tonight.
Not questioning your decision in any way Tets. I respect the hell out of how this place is run. But this is going to be tough no matter how you proceed.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
What is everyone's thoughts on the group? All pretty beatable? It would be nice to go into the euro qualifying with a playoff in the bag for once
Depends on what Ireland team you are talking about 😂 the one who played the last two games against Portugal and Hungary will top the group, the one that that lost to Armenia will be scrapping at the bottom! The joys of being an Ireland fan 😂 but in all seriousness, we'd want to be looking at winning the groupOriginally Posted by rebelmusic
I can't see us winning the group - Austria should have too much overall. Israel aren't that strong and playing at a neutral venue (which UEFA seem to have confirmed) will hurt them. Kosovo could be dangerous, and I don't see them being as weak as Armenia/Bulgaria/Finland in previous groups.
If Kelleher or Parrott are out injured then - barring someone improving markedly between now and September - we could well be in the mix for relegation. I'd settle for one of the middle spots.
I'm going to be realistic but optimistic that we beat Israel in both legs, beat and draw with kosovo and draw and lose with Austria. 11 points and second place
Do we actually want to win the group? It would put us in the A division for the pre-2030 World Cup NL campaign. Which means, if they retain the current format, no prospect of a World Cup playoff place through the NL.
My understanding is that a second place finish would give us a second seeding for the Euro 2028 groups, and a strong possibility of a Euros playoff spot if we needed it. Also a likely money-spinning playoff against a League A team which I'd also be content with us losing. We should have a reasonable chance of finishing ahead of Israel and Kosovo (barring an off field decision relating to non-football matters), so that's a good target to go after. Austria are welcome to head for the A division if they want it!
I still don’t fully understand the Nations League and am still trying to wrap my head around how we won our last two games.
BUT…we have a chance
I think you take your chances in League A. No guarantee on future formats. FAI coffers would be boosted by more than a million with three big home games - replace Kosovo, Israel and Austria with say France, Italy and Belgium. Also helps our coefficient for the Euros groups, no? Could end up getting a really tough Group B and then you’re in danger of relegation and a **** World Cup group
It's also minnowist to not want to get promoted.
I would very much prefer if we had a team strong enough to win the group or a playoff. I don't think we do, but finding consolation in being less good isn't a plus for me.
The playoff route expectations seem realistic. I don't see anything wrong with getting to group A and playing the best teams. We've shown we have it in us to get the odd scalp and just staying up in group A would be a massive achievement. In general it would make the nations league more interesting - extremely outside chance of winning but anything better than last being something significant to play for and to cheer for.
Austria have strengthened ahead of the World Cup and our autumn meetings with them by bringing in Paul Wanner (PSV) and Carney Chukwuemeka (Borussia Dortmund) from Germany and England respectively. Both Austrian born but left at a young age.
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