{"id":367182,"date":"2026-03-27T01:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T01:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/367182\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T01:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T01:40:09","slug":"ireland-dares-to-dream-again-under-hallgrimsson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/367182\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland dares to dream again under\u00a0 Hallgr\u00edmsson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night\u2019s crucial play-off game against the Czechs came a bit too late for this column\u2019s deadline. Suffice to say we hope that the result went in such a way that we still have something to look forward to on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

Regardless of what happened, something undeniable has crept back into following the boys in green: hope. Real, meaningful hope \u2014 the kind that had been missing for years, and only truly took hold deep into this World Cup qualifying run, once Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson finally cracked the code. And did so in the most dramatic fashion.<\/p>\n

\"Ireland'sIreland’s Troy Parrott celebrates after scoring the winning goal against Hungary in the World Cup Qualifier Group F, Pusk\u00e1s Ar\u00e9na, Budapest, Hungary.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Picture: INPHO\/Ryan Byrne<\/p>\n

Dare to dream<\/p>\n

The dream of qualifying, not to mind the actual chance of competing in a tournament seemed a long way off when we lost to Armenia 2-1 last September. An earlier draw at home with Hungary and a subsequent battling 1-0 away defeat to Portugal in October had taken the wind out of our hopes of visiting the US and Mexico come this summer. Even reversing the Armenian result on their return to Ireland later on in October could not dissuade the belief among most of us that we\u2019d get little change out of our last two games against the groups two big sides, Portugal at home and Hungary in Budapest.<\/p>\n

Only one man seemed to be talking with calm optimism about our chances and that was Hallgr\u00edmsson himself. He was not writing us off unlike most pundit, me included.<\/p>\n

\"IrelandIreland and\u00a0 Cork’s Jake O’Brien, left, and Adam Idah celebrate after the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group F Qualifier win over Portugal at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Picture: Stephen McCarthy\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

The changes<\/p>\n

And whatever happened last night and next Tuesday (fingers crossed), Hallgr\u00edmsson deserves credit for at least bringing us this far, reviving a hope we may not have seen since probably the Martin O\u2019Neil era.<\/p>\n

So what has Hallgr\u00edmsson brought to the team that was absent during Stephen Kenny\u2019s time at the helm, and right up till last October when we completed that unbelievable double triumph of silencing Ronaldo and Portugal in the Aviva, followed quickly after by the stunning come from behind victory in the home of Puskas against Hungary in November?<\/p>\n

Maybe the biggest achievement from the Icelandic man has been off the pitch. It can be argued that Stephen Kenny\u2019s team played better football than the current incumbents. But Hallgr\u00edmsson main achievement has been how he psychologically rebuilt the side to the point that they believe that they are good enough to win. The results against Portugal and Hungary would have been unachievable under Kenny. Hallgr\u00edmsson cool demeanour has worn off on the players and the composure has shown in results.<\/p>\n

And those latest results have been important as they broke long-standing performance ceilings, solidifying a belief among the players and even the long-suffering supporters.<\/p>\n

The players now see a clear vision for progress, while Hallgr\u00edmsson has rewarded form and performance by overhauling his selections when needed, rather than rewarding underperforming regulars.<\/p>\n

Apparently, Hallgr\u00edmsson has leaned into detailed analysis of opponents, dissecting their strengths and weaknesses. A tactical preparation that brought much success during his Iceland term.<\/p>\n

The FAI deciding to extend his contract into Euro 2028 shows they have bought into the stability and continuity of direction Hallgr\u00edmsson has brought to the team. Though there are some that believe that deal may be a bit premature.<\/p>\n

The legacy of success he had with Iceland, most famously when the side beat England in Euro 2016, seems to have inspired the Irish players into believing they can do great things too. This experience and his grounded personality seem to have connected and re-energised the team, especially as results started going their way.<\/p>\n

\"FinnFinn Azaz of Republic of Ireland reacts as Armenia celebrate their first goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group F qualifying match at Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium in Yerevan, Armenia. Picture: Stephen McCarthy\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

Not perfect<\/p>\n

Of course it has not been all plain sailing. Hallgr\u00edmsson has faced criticism for being overly defensive, prioritising timid defensive priorities over attacking ambition, which was shown when he deployed a back five against what should be poorer oppositions, isolating strikers like Evan Ferguson to plough a lonely furrow on his own up front.<\/p>\n

Then there were the poor opening results to Hallgr\u00edmsson tenure. Early games included heavy home losses: notably 3\u20130 to England and 2\u20130 to Greece in the Nations League. Then in the World Cup qualifiers we had Ireland only picking up one point from two matches, including a damaging 2\u20131 defeat to lowly Armenia, in what at best could be said to be forgettable performances, and well below the quality of play that Kenny brought to the team.<\/p>\n

A point that we said was one of Hallgr\u00edmsson\u2019s strengths, his ability to change his team selection when needed, can be argued that he hasn\u2019t settled on his favourite team and only clicked on his selection in late games by luck rather than any tactical insight.<\/p>\n

The last question on Hallgr\u00edmsson is that he has been granted a new contract while still actively trying to qualify for the World Cup. This is not Hallgr\u00edmsson fault. It is a tradition of the FAI to extend contracts before qualification is achieved and that may feel well premature depending on how we feel today after last night\u2019s result and Tuesday should we advance.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s hope all this will be an academic exercise of \u2018what was wrong\u2019 by the time these play-offs are finished.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last night\u2019s crucial play-off game against the Czechs came a bit too late for this column\u2019s deadline. Suffice…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[16250,2957,61,60,43,165360,48910],"class_list":{"0":"post-367182","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-cork-soccer","9":"tag-fifa-world-cup","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-organisation-fai","14":"tag-person-heimir-hallgrimsson"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367182","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=367182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}