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

[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 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!!