Five positives to take from the Icelander’s reign so far.
Heimir Hallgrímsson’s appointment in July raised many eyebrows across Irish football media; having been linked with the likes of Gus Poyet, Anthony Barry, Lee Carsley and interim coach John O’Shea, FAI CFO Marc Canham told RTE Sport that the ex-Iceland boss was their “number one candidate” – a fact very much questioned by ex-Irish international Roy Keane when speaking on ITV’s Community Shield coverage:
“Apparently they wanted everybody. They didn’t know what they wanted”
Since then, Hallgrímsson’s Ireland finished 3rd in Group B2 of the Nations League, losing twice to Greece as well as a 5-0 demolition by England at Wembley; positively however, Ireland managed successive wins over Finland and put in a hugely promising first-half display against England before Liam Scales’ second-half red card condemned Ireland to defeat, and slowly there appears to be signs of life from this Ireland side under Hallgrímsson’s stewardship.
Next up are the World Cup 2026 qualifiers, and with the draw taking place on Friday 13th December, here are 5 things to be positive about in this new era for Irish international football.
1. Fresh Blood
Since their opener against England in September, Hallgrímsson has shown a willingness to trust younger less-experienced internationals, giving 7 players their competitive debuts. From a future-thinking perspective this bodes well for Ireland who under previous managers have often seen a reliance on more senior internationals.
“There’s young players as well, not playing yet. There is a lot of young players emerging so it’s exciting.” Hallgrímsson at his official unveiling in July 2024.
The average age of Hallgrímsson’s squad was 25.5 years old, a contrast from Stephen Kenny whose squad peaked at 29.6 and averaged around 27.3 in the same competition (Source: Transfermarkt.co.uk).
2. Beating better opposition
In Euro 2024 qualification, the only side Ireland managed to defeat were Gibraltar (ranked 197th in the world versus Ireland in 63rd), while also picking up wins against Latvia (137th) and Malta (169th) in friendlies prior to that campaign.
Fast forward to 2024 and Ireland have beaten Finland (66th) twice in the Nations League while also beating Hungary (32nd) in a friendly under Assistant Manager John O’Shea in March.
These performances against better calibre opposition are a sign that Ireland indeed have potential to compete at a higher level, something acknowledged by Hallgrímsson when speaking to ExtraTime.com:
“If we want to qualify, we know we will have two nations above us in the FIFA rankings..we need points against the big nations at home or away”.
3. A “bast*rd” mentality
Hallgrímsson has shown a clear sentiment that Ireland have historically been “a bit too nice” and wants his side to be “a team that people hate to play against”.
“Sometimes you need a bast*rd in your team. I’m looking for him. Maybe we can develop him.” Hallgrímsson at a Q&A session with Irish supporters.
Though he later said this was taken out of context, it’s clear that it has been instilled in his players as echoed by Josh Cullen ahead of Ireland’s clash with Greece:
“It’s something we need to develop. We need to make sure that every game we go into is horrible for our opposition.”
Not since the days of Roy Keane have we truly seen Ireland embody this mentality which would be a welcome addition to Ireland’s arsenal going forward.
4. Premier League experience
Ireland’s heroic squads of Italia ’90 and USA ’94 were heavily imprinted with Premiership quality; Houghton, Townsend, McGrath, Keane, Irwin, Staunton – all playing at the top level and regularly competing for trophies.
In the barren run between World Cup 2002 and Euro 2012 (where Ireland failed to qualify for a major tournament) there was a notable decline in top-tier players featuring in Ireland squads, but recently we have seen this change with 13 of Ireland’s recent squad playing top tier football, 11 of which play in the Premier League.
“The ultimate goal is having all our players playing in the Premier League, even the Champions League against the best players” – Hallgrímsson prior to the clash with Finland.
5. Evan scoring goals
Having Evan Ferguson in scoring form is crucial in Ireland’s hopes at World Cup 2026 qualification.
“Evan is a different kind. He is so good on the ball. At his feet, he doesn’t need much time in the box to finish and when he is 100% fit, he will be lethal for us” – Hallgrímsson prior to the clash with Greece in October.
Out of favour at Brighton currently, it will be essential for Hallgrímsson to get the most out of Ferguson’s international performances and ensure he remains a key man for Ireland; the 20-year-old’s winner against Finland will do his confidence no harm as he returns to his club and hopefully we will see more of the same by the next international break in March 2025.
Paul Madden 