{"id":321699,"date":"2026-02-28T11:15:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T11:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/321699\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T11:15:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T11:15:09","slug":"in-march-i-will-show-the-irish-players-our-plans-for-the-world-cup-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/321699\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018In March, I will show the Irish players our plans for the World Cup\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

None of the hoopla surrounding the recent revival of the Republic of Ireland<\/a> is new to Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson<\/a>. The 58-year-old has already lived an ample footballing life. <\/p>\n

He was co-manager when his native Iceland knocked England out of Euro 2016. That was a breakthrough for his country comparable to what Euro 88 was for Ireland. Two years later, Iceland frustrated Lionel Messi\u2019s Argentina, drawing 1-1 in the opening match at the World Cup in Russia. <\/p>\n

By then Hallgr\u00edmsson was the lone manager, having initially shared the role with Swedish coach Lars Lagerb\u00e4ck. His unique story demands, after the euphoria of Budapest<\/a> in November, an update. <\/p>\n

The island of Heimaey, off Iceland\u2019s south coast, was his home as a child. Its biggest volcano erupted at 1.55am on January 23rd, 1973. Hallgr\u00edmsson was five years old. He was six when the lava stopped spewing that July. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think I remember,\u201d says Hallgr\u00edmsson. Don\u2019t know if it is a memory or from seeing videos. The best thing was I should\u2019ve been in school but we were moving around different houses in Iceland.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family home was gone? \u201cNot my father\u2019s. Luckily. But both my grandparents houses went under the lava.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did they rebuild? \u201cNo. My grandfather stayed in the capital.\u201d<\/p>\n

On November 17th, 2025, Hallgr\u00edmsson caught the first available flight from Dublin to Reykjavik before a three-hour spin to catch the ferry to Heimaey. <\/p>\n

Ireland had just beaten Hungary 3-2 at the Puskas Arena. The FAI charter got them to Malahide for some late pints in Gibney\u2019s but Hallgr\u00edmsson was keen to set foot on familiar terrain. <\/p>\n

When I became a dentist, I was still coaching, even though my mother didn\u2019t like me doing it almost for free, instead of paying back my student loans<\/p>\n

\u201cHeimaey is one of the jewels of Iceland. The birds and surrounding sea life are amazing. Very green. It\u2019s a small island. 4,500 people in the village. You need to put in an effort to go there. It is isolated in the winter. You can get in, but you might not get out for a few days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IrelandIreland head coach Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson extracted great joy from an Irish goal against Bulgaria last year. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho <\/p>\n

It was not lost on his neighbours and friends that, with Ireland, he was knee-deep in an adventure similar the one enjoyed by Iceland a decade ago. <\/p>\n

\u201cFunnily enough, a lot of Icelanders watch Ireland as if it is their team. They follow and celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n

For one reason: the dentist who became a coach of his wife Iris Hallgr\u00edmsson\u2019s \u00cdBV Vestmannaeyjar team before managing Iceland, Jamaica and now Ireland represents a compelling journey for his fellow islanders to follow and celebrate. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was a late developer. The smallest in my age group. At 17, I decided to stop playing and worked in a video rental store after school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Xtra-vision did not last long. \u00cdBV employed a Polish coach named Gregor Bielatowics, who changed the way Hallgr\u00edmsson viewed the game. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs I had stopped playing the club asked me to be his assistant coach. For two years I was with him. Before Gregor football was just about winning. He was all about improving individuals, especially when he saw potential in a small player. That\u2019s why I fell in love with coaching. I\u2019ve done it ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

He grew tall enough to have a brief career as a defender for \u00cdBV in the Icelandic top flight, and he coached their under-10s for 15 years. <\/p>\n

As his dental practice took off on Heimaey, he continued to pursue his passion for developing talent. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I became a dentist, I was still coaching, even though my mother didn\u2019t like me doing it almost for free, instead of paying back my student loans after six years of university.<\/p>\n

\u201cI owe her a lot,\u201d he says. \u201cI wish I had all her values because she was an amazing Christian woman.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"HeimirHeimir Hallgr\u00edmsson applauding Iceland fans at the 2018 World Cup, his country’s first appearance at the tournament. Photograph: Dan Mullan\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

\u201cAnyways, when I graduated as a dentist, I took over the women\u2019s team. Iris was playing for them and they were struggling. She was a striker and I put her at centre back and she went on to play for the Iceland national team.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the difference between coaching boys and girls? \u201cThe women listen, so be careful what you are saying. It is more psychological than anything else. At half-time, you say \u2018we must be better at this or that\u2019. In the women\u2019s dressingroom everyone thinks \u2018he is talking about me\u2019. The men think, \u2018he is talking about someone else\u2019. That is the difference, [women] take more in. You can challenge the boys more without it affecting them. You have to be smarter in what you are saying [to women players].\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2666\u25ca\u2666\u25ca\u2666\u25ca\u2666\u25ca\u2666\u25ca\u2666\u25ca\u2666\u25ca\u2666\u25ca\u2666\u25ca\u2666\u25ca\u2666<\/p>\n

Think about Irish football\u2019s greatest moments. A word or two will suffice. Giants Stadium. Genoa. Stuttgart. For Icelanders it is the city of Nice, where England were humbled and Roy Hodgson immediately resigned.<\/p>\n

I had this presumption there was one thing I didn\u2019t need to change: Irish players will win their duels and work hard. But … it was not true<\/p>\n

That night remains a haze but Hallgr\u00edmsson does remember the quarter-final and being outfoxed by France manager Didier Deschamps as the thunderclap, finally, went silent. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe cleverness of Deschamps in that game. He gave us possession. We thought we\u2019d be defending for 90 minutes. We had our highest possession and we lost 5-2. <\/p>\n

\u201cTactically, it was so clever. We were playing the ball about. Looking really good. Boom. Counter attack. One-zero. Counterattack, two-zero. Counterattack, 3-0. It was 4-0 at half-time.\u201d<\/p>\n

What if the Czechs give Ireland the ball in Prague on March 26th? \u201cNo, I\u2019m not going to fall for this again. It\u2019s an example that even the better teams don\u2019t need possession to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hallgr\u00edmsson really has seen it all. Even Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s meltdown at the Aviva Stadium last year was not the first time the superstar lost his cool against one of the Icelander\u2019s team. After the 1-1 draw with Portugal at Euro 2016, Ronaldo ridiculed Iceland\u2019s defensive approach, saying it showed a \u201csmall mentality\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was his way to feel superior at that time. What fun is it if everyone plays the same way? The rich will always win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HeimirHeimir Hallgr\u00edmsson knows what it’s like to work for a national association with even fewer resources than the FAI. Photograph: Charles McQuillan\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

After seven years with his national team, Hallgr\u00edmsson and Iris moved to Doha to take up residency with Al-Arabi SC. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an opportunity that does not come along often for an Icelandic dentist. Salaries I had not seen before in my life. It was a tough time, the Covid time. They\u2019d been on a bad spiral but that\u2019s probably the project I\u2019ve been praised the most after leaving. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I was drained after three years. We went home for a summer. Just needed to go back to the island.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back to the dentist chair, until Jamaica came calling. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere was something sexy about living in Jamaica. There is an amazing number of players that could play for Jamaica via the granny rule.\u201d<\/p>\n

It ended abruptly, following the Copa America in 2024, with the FAI<\/a> keen for him to get started with Ireland. <\/p>\n

When the Czechs are saying we are a physical team, for me, that\u2019s a compliment<\/p>\n

\u201cThe resources in the federation were really limited. Pitches were really bad, infrastructure coming from Qatar was completely different. But the individual talent was ridiculous.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, I said to them, the players deserve a coach that can work in the environment. That is the best way I can put it. I knew they would qualify for the World Cup. That was pulling me. But two more years there would not have done me any good. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was chaotic,\u201d he adds. \u201cLimited in so many ways. There was a lot of things going on that I could not control.\u201d <\/p>\n

Does he still talk to Lagerb\u00e4ck? \u201cYeah, all the time. He watches every game I coach. A really good football brain but a magical person which I am really lucky to have come across.\u201d <\/p>\n

How did the encounter come about? \u201cOh, that\u2019s a story for you: [in 2012] there was a lot of talk of Roy Keane coming in. Gunnar Thor Gislason, the former president of the FA in Iceland, who was the CEO of Stoke, had spoken to him. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end they hired Lars. We were 124th in the Fifa rankings. When I left we were 18th.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HeimirHeimir Hallgr\u00edmsson feels no need to micromanage the activities of Paddy McCarthy (left) andJohn O’Shea. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho <\/p>\n

The rise of Iceland remains one of the greatest achievements in international football. Hallgr\u00edmsson was pencilled in to replace Lagerb\u00e4ck in 2014. Unlike Stephen Kenny with Ireland, he did not have it in writing from the association. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe plan was to see if I could take over after Lars, but everyone was so happy that they wanted him to stay. Lars said: \u2018Let\u2019s be joint coaches. Share the load.\u2019 That\u2019s what he was like. It just worked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hallgr\u00edmsson has tried to build the same working relationship with Ireland\u2019s \u201cassistant head coach\u201d John O\u2019Shea. <\/p>\n

\u201cJohn is a similar person to Lars. I have not come across anyone, in two years here, who does not like him. He is easy to work with. We share the load. Paddy McCarthy comes in [for camps from Crystal Palace] and he knows exactly what we expect of him. Same for everyone. I am not going to micromanage. This is your job. Do the best you can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lagerb\u00e4ck continually said Iceland would qualify for the World Cup. On arrival in Dublin, Hallgr\u00edmsson adapted his mentor\u2019s line. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to believe in what you are doing. For the next camp in March, I will show the Irish players our plans for the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

He opens his laptop to reveal the daily outline for this summer\u2019s tournament. From a new approach in May to the base camp in Fort Worth, Texas, everything is mapped out until the final on July 19th.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be here at least until after the World Cup. The players know we believe in them. The FAI are investing in going to the US. That\u2019s how it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, we discuss last year\u2019s miraculous turnaround. Hallgr\u00edmsson identified two reasons for the defeat to Armenia in Yerevan. Altitude and aggression. <\/p>\n

His theory has him \u201cscared\u201d in advance of potential World Cup group games against South Korea in Guadalajara (1,570m above sea level) and Mexico at the Azteca (2,240m). The \u201cworst performances,\u201d he says, by Ireland teams since 2022 happened in Yerevan, twice, which is 1,100m above sea level, and last November the under-21s lost 4-0 to Andorra high up in the Pyrenees. <\/p>\n

\"HeimirHeimir Hallgr\u00edmsson admits he didn’t know much about Irish football before accepting the FAI’s offer to run the national team. Photograph: Ryan Pierse\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes two weeks to acclimatise but that is logistically impossible as we have been assigned a base camp at sea level. When the oxygen levels lower, and it is impacting our performances, I am scared.\u201d <\/p>\n

What to do? \u201cSome players are more effective than others at altitude. We can check the red blood cells.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second issue was more alarming, but S\u00e9amus Coleman\u2019s return to the squad last October appeared to reset a group that had ceased trading off its traditional strength.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeamus\u2019s superpower is he makes the players around him better. Long may that continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleman possesses traits Hallgr\u00edmsson presumed every Irish player had. <\/p>\n

\u201cI had this presumption, when I came in, that there was one thing I didn\u2019t need to change: Irish players will win their duels and work hard. But when we analysed the first games it was not true. We lost much more duels than we won. The other teams were harder-working than us in the Greece and England games. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know much about Irish football, but I had in my mind the Keanes and Duff. You knew what you were facing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hallgr\u00edmsson said previously he wanted to discover a few \u201cbastards<\/a>\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cLots of courageous players playing with their hearts,\u201d he clarifies. \u201cThat was something we needed to reinvent. The stats showed me this was not the case. Irish players used to win the 70-30 duels, but we were losing the 50-50 duels.<\/p>\n

\u201cSlowly, we have improved in this area. When the Czechs are saying we are a physical team, for me, that\u2019s a compliment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"None of the hoopla surrounding the recent revival of the Republic of Ireland is new to Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321700,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[56982,4700,62,61,60,46617,1842,48229,112,4018],"class_list":{"0":"post-321699","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-czech-republic","9":"tag-heimir-hallgrimsson","10":"tag-iceland","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-john-o-shea","14":"tag-republic-of-ireland-mnt","15":"tag-seamus-coleman","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-world-cup"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321699","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=321699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}