{"id":13924,"date":"2025-09-11T08:30:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T08:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/13924\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T08:30:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T08:30:08","slug":"irelands-diminished-place-in-international-football-laid-bare-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/13924\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland\u2019s diminished place in international football laid bare \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

By laying Ireland\u2019s recent record out in black and white, the starkness of where the Boys in Green stand in international football right now hits home like a converted Armenian penalty. From the Meadowlands to the shadowlands in just three decades.<\/p>\n

For all the positivity, expectation and hope in the build-up to this World Cup qualifying campaign \u2013 reality arrived on a humbling night in Yerevan on Tuesday, having been temporarily put on hold three days earlier in Dublin.<\/p>\n

Over the last five years the Republic of Ireland international football team have played a total of 56 matches \u2013 with just 16 wins, 25 defeats and 15 draws.<\/p>\n

The 16 victories came against 13 different countries \u2013 and only two of those are currently ranked inside the top 50 of the Fifa rankings. None are placed inside the top 35. Seven are outside the top 100.<\/p>\n

Between 2020 and now, Ireland\u2019s only victories have come against Andorra (current Fifa ranking, 174), Azerbaijan (122), Qatar (53), Luxembourg (92), Lithuania (143), Scotland (47), Armenia (105), Malta (168), Latvia (137), Hungary (38), Gibraltar twice (199), Finland twice (69) and Bulgaria twice (84).<\/p>\n

Of the 16 wins, six were achieved in friendlies. Nine of the victories were by single-goal margins.<\/p>\n

Ireland have had three managers during that period \u2013 Stephen Kenny was in charge for 40 matches, winning 11. John O\u2019Shea was caretaker boss for four games, winning one. Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson has now been at the helm for 12 fixtures, winning four.<\/p>\n

Landmark moments such as the Shane Long-inspired Euro qualifier win over Germany in Dublin (2015) and Robbie Brady\u2019s goal that earned Ireland a famous European Championship victory over Italy in Lille (2016) were logged a decade ago at this stage.<\/p>\n

So, while Ireland\u2019s performance in Armenia was shocking, results and form lines suggest we shouldn\u2019t actually be surprised to find ourselves once again hoping for a miracle to qualify for a major tournament.<\/p>\n

\"IrelandIreland fans dejected after the match. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Because the stark reality is that as the team drifted towards the backwaters of international football in recent years, somewhere along the way hope replaced substance as Ireland\u2019s default setting.<\/p>\n

Below are Ireland\u2019s only victories from 2020-2025.<\/p>\n

Andorra 1 Ireland 4 (Friendly) <\/p>\n

Estadi Nacional; June 3rd, 2021 <\/p>\n

Troy Parrott 58 & 61, Jason Knight 84, Daryl Horgan 90<\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s first win under Stephen Kenny in what was his 12th match at the helm. Ireland fell 1-0 behind in the 52nd minute but Parrott\u2019s brace helped prevent an embarrassing defeat.<\/p>\n

Azerbaijan 0 Ireland 3 (World Cup qualifier)<\/p>\n

Olympic Stadium, Baku; October 9th, 2021 <\/p>\n

Callum Robinson 7 & 39, Chiedozie Ogbene 90<\/p>\n

This was Kenny\u2019s first competitive victory as Ireland manager. The sides had played out a 1-1 draw in Dublin the previous month.<\/p>\n

Ireland 4 Qatar 0 (Friendly)<\/p>\n

Aviva Stadium; October 12th, 2021<\/p>\n

Callum Robinson 4, 13 (p), 53, Shane Duffy 59<\/p>\n

Robinson built on his brace against Azerbaijan by bagging a hat-trick against Qatar. He remains the last Irish player to score a hat-trick at this level.<\/p>\n

Luxembourg 0 Ireland 3 (World Cup qualifier)<\/p>\n

Stade de Luxembourg; November 14th, 2021<\/p>\n

Shane Duffy 67, Chiedozie Ogbene 75, Callum Robinson 88<\/p>\n

Three victories in five weeks \u2013 plus a draw with Portugal \u2013 suggested Ireland had finally found their mojo under Kenny. However, qualification hopes were long gone by then \u2013 this was the last game in a group where Ireland (9pts) finished third, well behind Portugal (17pts) and Serbia (20pts).<\/p>\n

Ireland 1 Lithuania 0 (Friendly)<\/p>\n

Aviva Stadium; March 29th, 2022<\/p>\n

Troy Parrott 97<\/p>\n

\"TroyTroy Parrott scores a later winner for the Republic of Ireland in the friendly international against Lithuania at the Aviva Stadium. Photograph: Ois\u00edn Keniry\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Parrott\u2019s injury-time thunderbolt from outside the box snatched a victory from what was an otherwise humdrum friendly.<\/p>\n

Ireland 3 Scotland 0 (Nations League)<\/p>\n

Aviva Stadium; June 11th, 2022<\/p>\n

Alan Browne 20, Troy Parrott 28, Michael Obafemi 51<\/p>\n

Probably the most impressive win of Kenny\u2019s tenure, with Obafemi capping off Ireland\u2019s first Nations League win with a screamer from outside the box.<\/p>\n

Ireland 3 Armenia 2 (Nations League)<\/p>\n

Aviva Stadium; September 27th, 2022<\/p>\n

John Egan 18, Michael Obafemi 52, Robbie Brady 91 (p)<\/p>\n

Robbie Brady\u2019s 91st-minute penalty saved Ireland\u2019s blushes after Armenia had clawed back to a two-goal deficit. Ireland had lost in Armenia in June.<\/p>\n

Malta 0 Ireland 1 (Friendly)<\/p>\n

Ta\u2019 Qali National Stadium; November 20th, 2022<\/p>\n

Callum Robinson 55<\/p>\n

\"Ireland’sIreland\u2019s Callum Robinson celebrates scoring the first goal of the game. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Robinson\u2019s goal in the second half of this largely forgettable friendly at least ensured Ireland\u2019s year finished with a win.<\/p>\n

Ireland 3 Latvia 2 (Friendly) <\/p>\n

Aviva Stadium; March 22md, 2023 <\/p>\n

Callum O\u2019Dowda 6, Evan Ferguson 17, Chiedozie Ogbene 64<\/p>\n

Ferguson scored his first senior international goal to put Ireland 2-0 ahead but Latvia fought back to be level at the break. Ogbene\u2019s second-half goal secured a home win.<\/p>\n

Ireland 3 Gibraltar 0 (European Championship qualifier)<\/p>\n

Aviva Stadium; June 19th, 2023 <\/p>\n

Mikey Johnston 52, Evan Ferguson 59, Adam Idah 92<\/p>\n

There were boos at the half-time whistle as the sides went in scoreless but Ireland finally broke down their lowly ranked opponents during the second half.<\/p>\n

Gibraltar 0 Ireland 4 (European Championship qualifier)<\/p>\n

Est\u00e1dio Algarve; October 16th, 2023<\/p>\n

Evan Ferguson 8, Mikey Johnston 28, Matt Doherty 61, Callum Robinson 80<\/p>\n

Ferguson\u2019s early goal set Ireland on their way to a comfortable win and ended a three-game losing streak. It would prove to be Kenny\u2019s last victory as Ireland manager.<\/p>\n

Ireland 2 Hungary 1 (Friendly)<\/p>\n

Aviva Stadium; June 4th 2024<\/p>\n

Adam Idah 36, Troy Parrot 92<\/p>\n

Parrott came off the bench to net a breakaway winner in the second minute of injury-time. It was John O\u2019Shea\u2019s sole win as Ireland manager.<\/p>\n

Finland 1 Ireland 2 (Nations League)<\/p>\n

Olympic Stadium, Helsinki; October 10th, 2024 <\/p>\n

Liam Scales 57, Robbie Brady 88<\/p>\n

Ireland had to come from behind after conceding in the 17th minute, with Brady scoring a winner late on. Conceding first was about to become a habit for Ireland.<\/p>\n

Ireland 1 Finland 0 (Nations League)<\/p>\n

Aviva Stadium, November 14th, 2024 <\/p>\n

Evan Ferguson 45<\/p>\n

\"Ireland'sIreland’s Evan Ferguson scores a goal. Photograph: Bryan Keane\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Ferguson\u2019s headed goal just before the break proved the difference but Ireland did also require Caoimh\u00edn Kelleher to save a 77th-minute penalty.<\/p>\n

Bulgaria 1 Ireland 2 (Nations League)<\/p>\n

Stadion Hristo Botev; March 20th, 2025<\/p>\n

Finn Azaz 21, Matt Doherty 42<\/p>\n

Goals from Azaz and Doherty helped Ireland overcome the concession of a sixth-minute goal to win in Plovdiv.<\/p>\n

Ireland 2 Bulgaria 1 (Nations League)<\/p>\n

Aviva Stadium, March 23rd, 2025 <\/p>\n

Evan Ferguson 63, Adam Idah 84<\/p>\n

Ireland again had to come from behind. They trailed 1-0 at the interval but two second-half goals turned the game. It remains Ireland\u2019s last win \u2013 three draws and a defeat have since followed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By laying Ireland\u2019s recent record out in black and white, the starkness of where the Boys in Green…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13925,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[13446,4700,61,60,1842,112],"class_list":["post-13924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-football-association-of-ireland-fai","tag-heimir-hallgrimsson","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-republic-of-ireland-mnt","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}