{"id":633265,"date":"2026-09-23T07:44:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T07:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/633265\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T07:44:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T07:44:22","slug":"kosovo-v-republic-of-ireland-all-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/633265\/","title":{"rendered":"Kosovo v Republic of Ireland: All you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE B <\/p>\n

Kosovo v Republic of Ireland, Thursday, Fadil Vokrri Stadium, 7.45pm<\/p>\n

TV <\/p>\n

Live coverage on RT\u00c92 and RT\u00c9 Player from 7pm.<\/p>\n

ONLINE <\/p>\n

Live blog on RT\u00c9.ie\/Sport and the RT\u00c9 News app.<\/p>\n

WEATHER<\/p>\n

Conditions in Pristina are set to be perfect for the game. Little to no wind, temperatures about 15c and no rain expected. It’s set to get a bit cloudier as the game progresses, but it’s looking like a lovely night in store in Kosovo.<\/p>\n

\n

THE ALMOST FORGOTTEN GAME<\/p>\n

With the build-up to Ireland’s game with Israel starting, in reality, all the way back in February when they were paired together in the draw in Brussels, this fixture was always going to be playing second fiddle in any narrative during the first half of this international window.<\/p>\n

Still, there are as many points on offer on Thursday as there are at the weekend, so strip it back purely to football, and this is a massively important game for Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side as they try and start their Nations League campaign with a bang.<\/p>\n

While the match may be playing second fiddle for the Irish public given the fall-out from their game with Israel<\/a>, it’s set to be a huge occasion for Kosovo.<\/p>\n

The hosts are playing their first-ever game at B level following their comprehensive play-off win over Hallgrimsson’s old side, Iceland in March last year to earn promotion.<\/p>\n

\"(From
\nKosovo football is on the rise<\/p>\n

Vedat Muriqi was the hero with a hat-trick in the second leg in Spain to secure a 5-2 aggregate triumph.<\/p>\n

For a side that only gained UEFA membership in 2016, it was a very special moment. They’ll be hoping more are to follow, starting with Ireland tomorrow evening.<\/p>\n

OPENING NIGHT JITTERS<\/p>\n

Quiz question, who scored Ireland’s first-ever Nations League goal? The answer is Shaun Williams, but unfortunately Wales already had four on the board by that stage with the hosts winning 4-1 in Ryan Giggs’ first home game in charge of his country in September 2018.<\/p>\n

It was the start of what has been a run of very poor opening-round losses for Ireland in the Nations League, two losses and a draw following, and the latter needing a 93rd minute intervention.<\/p>\n

That came in September 2020 as Shane Duffy headed home to earn Ireland a 1-1 draw in Bulgaria in Stephen Kenny’s first match as manager.<\/p>\n

The worst result of all was to follow two years later when Armenia won 1-0 \u2013 surely we wouldn’t suffer another shock to the same side a few years later \u2013 with Eduard Spertsyan the match winner in what was their first competitive game since a 9-0 trouncing at the hands of Norway.<\/p>\n

Lastly, and the first time having a home game in Round 1, Ireland felt the bad luck of the draw as they hosted an England side who were really out of place in League B. Jack Grealish and Declan Rice scored the goals, just to add further salt into the wounds.<\/p>\n

\"6
\nShaun Williams is the holder of some Irish footballing history<\/p>\n

PIRATE MURIQI HOPING TO PLUNDER GOALS<\/p>\n

You can’t have a look at Kosovo without looking at Vedat Muriqi.<\/p>\n

‘The Pirate’ is 32 years of age now, but it’s in his thirties where his goalscoring has really taken off.<\/p>\n

Last season he scored 23 La Liga goals for Mallorca. Only Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe (25) scored more. In doing so, he became the club’s all-time top scorer in the top flight, overtaking Samuel Eto’o.<\/p>\n

A move to Turkish club Fenerbahce followed in the summer and he’s sitting on six from six games with only Gift Orban and a certain Mohamed Salah ahead of him, both on seven goals.<\/p>\n

Muriqi is brilliant in the air, has a lovely left foot but isn’t afraid to shoot with his right and his penalty style resembles Bruno Fernandes; he requires serious watching.<\/p>\n

SQUAD CHANGES FOR IRELAND<\/p>\n

St Mirren midfielder Killian Phillips is a late call-up<\/a> after injuries to Jamie McGrath (Hibernian) and Harvey Vale (Queens Park Rangers).<\/p>\n

Stoke City’s Bosun Lawal remains with the squad, although there is speculation he might miss this week’s fixtures before joining up with the team.<\/p>\n

\"Liam
\nLiam Kitching is getting his chance with the squad<\/p>\n

S\u00e9amus Coleman and the injured Nathan Collins are notable exclusions.<\/p>\n

Republic of Ireland squad:<\/p>\n

Goalkeepers: Caoimhin Kelleher (Brentford), Max O’Leary (West Bromwich Albion), Gavin Bazunu (Bolton Wanderers)<\/p>\n

Defenders: James Abankwah (Udinese), Joel Bagan (Cardiff City), Jimmy Dunne (Queens Park Rangers), John Egan (Hull City), Liam Kitching (Sheffield United), Ryan Manning (Southampton), Jake O’Brien (Everton), Dara O’Shea (Ipswich Town), Liam Scales (Celtic)<\/p>\n

Midfielders: Finn Azaz (Southampton), Conor Coventry (Charlton Athletic), Jason Knight (Bristol City), Jayson Molumby (West Bromwich Albion), Bosun Lawal (Stoke City), Killian Phillips (St. Mirren)<\/p>\n

Forwards: Owen Elding (Hibernian), Adam Idah (Swansea City), Jack Moylan (Cardiff City), Chiedozie Ogbene (Lincoln City), Troy Parrott (Real Betis), Rocco Vata (Watford), Tom Cannon (Sheffield United)<\/p>\n

Watch Kosovo v Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Nations League on Thursday from 7pm on RT\u00c92 and RT\u00c9 Player. Follow our live blog on RT\u00c9.ie\/sport and RT\u00c9 News app<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE B Kosovo v Republic of Ireland, Thursday, Fadil Vokrri Stadium, 7.45pm TV Live coverage on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-633265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633265","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=633265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}