Republic of Ireland national football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Republic of Ireland women's national football team.
Republic of Ireland
Nickname(s) The Boys in Green
The Green Army
Association Football Association of Ireland (FAI)
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Martin O'Neill[1]
Captain Robbie Keane
Most caps Robbie Keane (143)
Top scorer Robbie Keane (67)
Home stadium Aviva Stadium
FIFA code IRL
First colours
Second colours
Third colours
FIFA ranking
Current 31 Steady (5 May 2016)
Highest 6 (August 1993)
Lowest 70 (June–July 2014)
Elo ranking
Current 27 (23 February 2016)
Highest 8 (April 2002, June 2002)
Lowest 67 (May 1972)
First international
Republic of Ireland Ireland 1–0 Bulgaria Bulgaria
(Stade Colombes, France; 28 May 1924)
Biggest win
Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland 8–0 Malta Malta
(Dublin, Ireland; 16 November 1983)
Biggest defeat
Brazil Brazil 7–0 Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland
(Uberlândia, Brazil; 27 May 1982)
World Cup
Appearances 3 (First in 1990)
Best result Quarter-Finals 1990
European Championship
Appearances 3 (First in 1988)
Best result Group Stage in 2012, 1988
Summer Olympics
Appearances 2 (First in 1924)
Best result 5th, 1924

The Republic of Ireland national football team (Irish: Foireann peile náisiúnta Phoblacht na hÉireann) represents Ireland in association football. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and plays its home fixtures at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

The team made their debut at the 1924 Summer Olympics, reaching the quarter-finals. Between 1924 and 1936, the team competed as the Irish Free State and from then until 1950, it was referred to by the FAI as Éire or Ireland. In 1953, FIFA decreed that for competitive matches in tournaments that both Irish teams may enter, the FAI team would be officially called the Republic of Ireland while the IFA team was to be named Northern Ireland.[2] Northern Ireland was allowed to use the title Ireland by FIFA in the Home International Competition until it was discontinued in 1984. Ireland was the first nation from outside the United Kingdom to defeat England at home at a fixture played at Goodison Park, Liverpool, in 1949. The team also reached the Quarter Final stage of the 1964 European Nations' Cup, where they lost to the eventual winners Spain.

Under the guidance of Jack Charlton, the team enjoyed its most successful era, reaching their highest FIFA ranking ever which was 6th in the world in August 1993, and qualifying for UEFA Euro 1988 in their first appearance at the UEFA European Championship, reaching the quarterfinals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in their first ever appearance at the finals, and making the last 16 at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Charlton's successor Mick McCarthy lost out on the next two major tournaments but ultimately qualified for the 2002 World Cup, making it to the last 16. Under Giovanni Trapattoni, the team narrowly lost out on qualification for the 2010 World Cup during a controversial play-off, but went on to qualify for UEFA Euro 2012.

The team failed to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil which marked the end of Giovanni Trapattoni's tenure as manager. Ireland also fell to a record low FIFA ranking of 59th. The team fell further to a record low of 70th in June 2014.[3] For the next Euro qualifying campaign under manager Martin O'Neill, Ireland finished third behind Germany and Poland, but went on to qualify for Euro 2016 after a 3-1 aggregate win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the play-offs.

History

Irish Free State (1924–1936)

Between 1882 and 1924, Ireland was represented by a single national football team organised by the Belfast-based Irish Football Association (IFA). In 1920, Ireland was partitioned into Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State (the latter in turn becoming Éire or Ireland after adopting a new Constitution in 1937, followed by declaring itself a republic in 1948.) Following the initial political upheavals surrounding Partition, a Dublin-based organisation calling itself the Football Association of the Irish Free State (FAIFS) split from the IFA in 1921 and began organising its own league and national football team.[4]

In 1923, the FAIFS was recognised by FIFA as the governing body of the Irish Free State[5] and at the 1924 Summer Olympics, the Irish Free State made their international debut. On 28 May, at the Stade Olympique, they beat Bulgaria 1–0, with Paddy Duncan scoring the team's first ever goal. As a result of this they qualified for the quarter-finals.[6][7] On 14 June 1924, the Irish Free State made their home debut against the United States, who had embarked on a brief European tour after competing in the same Summer Olympics. Ed Brookes scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 home win at Dalymount Park.[8]

The Irish Free State did not play their next game until 21 March 1926. This was an away game against Italy which they lost 3–0. In subsequent years the status of the Olympic Games football competition was downgraded and as a result this game is widely regarded as the Irish Free State's first official game. On 25 February 1934, the Irish Free State made their FIFA World Cup debut, drawing 4–4 with Belgium at Dalymount Park in a 1934 FIFA World Cup qualifier. Paddy Moore scored all four of the Free State's goals and became the first player ever to score four goals in a FIFA World Cup game.[9]

Ireland (1937–1952)

After 1936, they reverted to the designation "Football Association of Ireland" and began to refer to their team as Éire or "Ireland". During this whole period, there were two Irish international football teams, chosen by two rival Associations. Both Associations, the Northern Ireland – based IFA and the Irish Free State – based FAI claimed jurisdiction over the whole of Ireland and considered themselves entitled to select players from the whole island. At least thirty-eight dual internationals were selected to represent both teams,[10] however the overwhelming majority of these were Southerners who also agreed to play for the IFA team, with only a bare handful "crossing the border" in the other direction.

A 2–0 win over England at Goodison Park on 21 September 1949, was the first time England suffered a home defeat by a team outside the Home Countries of Scotland, Wales and the Ireland team run by the Belfast-based Irish FA. FIFA eventually intervened when both teams entered 1950 FIFA World Cup qualification, the first time they had entered the same competition. Four players – Tom Aherne, Reg Ryan, Davy Walsh, Con Martin – actually played for the two different teams in the same FIFA World Cup tournament.[11] All four players concerned had been born in the Irish Free State and made their full international debut in FAI colours before agreeing to represent the IFA team. This may have alarmed the FAI, since they subsequently lobbied FIFA to prevent the IFA from picking Southern-born players (as well as attempting to exert pressure on the players themselves, sometimes through their clubs). FIFA's response was to restrict the eligibility of players on the basis of the (political) border, further ruling in 1953 that neither team could be referred to as Ireland in competitions which both teams were eligible to enter i.e. initially the FIFA World Cup and subsequently the European Nations Cup (now the UEFA European Football Championship). FIFA decreed that the FAI team officially be called the Republic of Ireland while the IFA team was to be named Northern Ireland.[12]

Republic of Ireland (1953–1968)

In 1953, FIFA renamed the team from "Ireland" to "Republic of Ireland". The 1958 FIFA World Cup qualifiers saw the Republic of Ireland drawn with England. In their home game against England, Alf Ringstead put the hosts 1–0 up before John Atyeo equalised in the last minute to salvage a 1–1 draw for England. Under the rules of the day, a win for the Republic of Ireland would have meant a play-off with England for a place in the FIFA World Cup.[9]

After reaching the quarter-finals of the 1964 European Nations' Cup, the Republic of Ireland were drawn to face Spain and Syria in 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification. Despite Syria's withdrawal, this was still considered a qualifying group with the Irish winning 1–0 at home and losing 4–1 away. This meant a play-off at the Parc des Princes in Paris, which Spain won 1–0[13] Eamon Dunphy made his Ireland début in this game.[13] The play-off was originally scheduled to take place at Wembley Stadium in London, home to a large Irish diaspora, but the FAI agreed with the Spanish FA to have the match moved to Paris, where a large Spanish diaspora lived.[14] The FAI was criticised for this move to boost revenue from gate receipts.[13]

In 1965, the Republic of Ireland team made history when selecting Manchester United full-back Shay Brennan for the senior national team. This was the first instance of a player born outside the Republic being selected to play for the national team due to having an Irish parent. Since then, many of the Republic's most prominent players have been born in England; including Mark Lawrenson, David O'Leary, John Aldridge, Tony Cascarino and David Kelly. A number of Scottish born players, including Ray Houghton, have since represented the Republic due to having Irish parentage. The selection rules were later relaxed to allow for the selection of players with an Irish grandparent.

Wilderness (1969–1985)

In 1969 the FAI appointed Mick Meagan as the first permanent manager of the national side. His two years in charge were marked by exceptionally poor results however, with the team losing 5 out of 6 matches and gaining just one point in their 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification, and doing no better in the UEFA Euro 1972 qualifiers, leading to his dismissal. His replacement, Liam Tuohy did a somewhat better in the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification, and more importantly oversaw major improvements to the national team's training facilities and persuaded many English club sides to end their policies of not releasing Irish players for international games during the domestic season. Ultimately however, the team still failed to qualify for the World Cup, and Tuohy resigned following a dispute over his wages. Johnny Giles became the side's first player-manager in the 1970s. This was followed by the debut of a young Liam Brady and results improved markedly.[15] The side missed out on the 1978 FIFA World Cup by two points, having defeated France at home during qualification. After a less than impressive performance at the UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying, in which the team finished well behind group winners England and Northern Ireland, Giles resigned, saying that he had taken the national side as far as he could.[16]

Eoin Hand took over as manager for the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, and once more the Republic of Ireland narrowly missed out on qualification, this time on goal difference behind France who they had defeated at home once more. Disappointing qualifying campaigns for both the 1984 European Championship and 1986 FIFA World Cup followed, ending Hand's time in charge.

The Charlton years (1986–1995)

In 1986, the Republic of Ireland appointed Jack Charlton, a top rated English manager who had been part of England's World Cup winning side of 1966. During the 1970s, he had developed Middlesbrough into a side which provided many players to the dominant Liverpool team of the time.

Ireland playing Netherlands at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida, USA where they lost 2–0 in the Round of 16 of the 1994 FIFA World Cup

After taking charge of the Republic of Ireland, Charlton influenced changes in the national side which resulted in arguably the most successful period of its history, winning the Iceland Triangular Tournament by defeating Iceland and Czechoslovakia in May 1986[17] and qualifying for two FIFA World Cups and a European Championship.[18]

Ireland's first appearance at a major finals tournament came in UEFA Euro 1988, with qualification being secured through Gary Mackay's famous goal in Sofia that meant Scotland beat Bulgaria 1–0 and left Ireland on top of the group.[19] In the finals in West Germany, Ireland beat England 1–0 in Stuttgart with a header from Ray Houghton, drew 1–1 with the Soviet Union in Hannover, with Ronnie Whelan the scorer, and lost to the Netherlands 1–0 in Gelsenkirchen, coming within seven minutes of a draw that would have meant a semi-final place.[20]

The Republic of Ireland's longest competitive winning streak was achieved in 1989 during the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. Five games against Spain, Northern Ireland, Hungary and Malta twice, were all wins for the Irish. Subsequently, the side made it to the 1990 FIFA World Cup (Italia '90). Three draws in the group stage against England, Egypt and the Netherlands was enough to make the knockout stage. Virtually the whole country watched as they beat Romania on penalties with Packie Bonner making a vital save and David O'Leary scoring the decisive spot-kick. Ireland were then beaten 1–0 by Italy in the quarter final in the Olympic Stadium, Rome. During the tournament the team had an audience with Pope John Paul II, and were the only team to do so.[21]

After missing out on UEFA Euro 1992 (despite being unbeaten in qualifying), the Republic of Ireland qualified for the 1994 FIFA World Cup (USA '94). In their first match, they beat the previous World Cup hosts and 3rd-place finishers Italy 1-0, in their opening game at Giants Stadium just outside New York City; but lost to Mexico 2-1 at the Citrus Bowl in the heat and humidity of Orlando, Florida; and they tied with Norway 0-0 at Giants Stadium. With these results, they made it to the second round, eventually losing 2–0 to the Netherlands in Orlando. In 1996, Ireland finished second behind Portugal in UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 6 but narrowly missed out on UEFA Euro 1996 after losing by a score of 2–0 a play-off at Anfield between the two worst group runners-up to the Netherlands, the other worst runner-up, with Patrick Kluivert scoring both goals to send his team through.[13] It was Jack Charlton's final game as manager.[13]

Some success (1996–2002)

Charlton was replaced by Mick McCarthy but Ireland still missed out on the next two major tournaments. Ireland just managed to finish second to Romania in their 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign after Tony Cascarino scored a late goal to win the away match with Lithuania.[13] A play-off with Belgium followed, with the match at Lansdowne Road finishing in a 1–1 draw, the match in Belgium finishing 2–1 to the home team and substitute David Connolly being sent off in the latter, preventing Ireland from progressing to the 1998 FIFA World Cup.[13] FIFA awarded the FIFA Fair Play Award for 1997 to the Irish supporters "for their exemplary behaviour at Ireland team matches, especially the FIFA World Cup qualifying play-offs against Belgium".[22] Ireland's opponents in UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying Group 8 were Yugoslavia, Croatia, Malta and Macedonia.[13] Macedonia scored a last-minute equaliser that denied Ireland top spot in the group, instead they faced Turkey in a play-off to decide which team would participate in UEFA Euro 2000.[13] The match in Dublin finished in a 1–1 draw and Turkey qualified with the away goal after a 0–0 draw at the end of which Tony Cascarino became involved in a fight and retired from international football.[13]

Ireland took on both Portugal and the Netherlands in 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 2 and ended the group in second place with 24 points from ten matches; seven victories and three draws.[13] Despite this unbeaten run, Ireland were drawn in a play-off with Iran. The match in Dublin finished in a 2–0 victory to Ireland with goals from Ian Harte (penalty) and Robbie Keane, while the match in Tehran, played in front of 100,000 spectators, finished in a 1–0 for Iran, not enough to send them through.[13] So McCarthy did manage to lead Ireland to the 2002 FIFA World Cup (Korea/Japan '02), only for the team to lose inspirational captain Roy Keane due to the pair's infamous public spat in Saipan.[23] 1–1 draws with Cameroon and Germany were followed by a 3–0 victory over Saudi Arabia in Group E.[24][25][26] The Irish once again progressed to the knockout stage, only losing narrowly 3–2 on penalties to Spain in Suwon after Robbie Keane's last minute equalising penalty kick forced the game into extra-time.[27]

Decline (2003–2007)

After a poor start to qualifying for UEFA Euro 2004, McCarthy was replaced by Brian Kerr but he also struggled to guide the side to the tournament or the following 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and was sacked in October 2005.[28][29] Kerr was replaced by Steve Staunton (assisted by Bobby Robson in the position of "international football consultant") in January 2006.[30] Under Staunton, results varied widely but the team still failed to qualify for UEFA Euro 2008 and Staunton lost the position in October 2007.[31] His reign included a humiliating 5–2 defeat to Cyprus during UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group D, one of the worst defeats in the team's history.[32]

The Trapattoni years (2008–2013)

Irish celebrating qualification for UEFA Euro 2012

Giovanni Trapattoni was appointed manager in February 2008 following a spell with assistant coach Don Givens in charge.[33] Trapattoni went through all ten first round 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying games unbeaten, winning four of the ten games.[34] Ireland lost out on a place in the 2010 FIFA World Cup after a controversial narrow loss to France in the play-offs. Ireland went down 0–1 in the first leg, and lost 2–1 on aggregate, with William Gallas scoring a controversial goal in extra time in the second leg after Thierry Henry had handled the ball before crossing for Gallas to score.[35] This followed another controversy over FIFA's last-minute decision to seed the play-off draw.[36]

In 2011, Ireland hosted and won the inaugural Nations Cup with wins against Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland without conceding a goal.[37]

In their Euro 2012 qualifying group Ireland finished second, losing only the home fixture against Russia. They thus reached the play-offs and were drawn against Estonia, whom they beat 5–1 on aggregate. UEFA Euro 2012 was Ireland's first major tournament since 2002, but in Group C they lost all three matches, against Croatia, Spain and Italy. UEFA announced a special award for the fans of the Irish team, who notably sang in the last few minutes against Spain, despite trailing 4–0.[38]

Irish team in September 2013

Ireland were drawn in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group C alongside Germany, Sweden, Austria, Faroe Islands and Kazakhstan.[39] On 12 October, Ireland suffered their largest ever competitive home defeat, 6–1 against Germany in the Aviva Stadium.

Ireland lost against Sweden and Austria in early September 2013, effectively ending the 2014 World Cup qualification campaign, and Giovanni Trapattoni resigned as team manager the following day.[40]

Noel King was appointed interim senior manager on 23 September 2013 following the resignation of Giovanni Trapattoni.

On 5 November 2013, the Football Association of Ireland announced that Martin O'Neill would be Trapattoni's replacement as manager, with former team captain Roy Keane as his assistant. They assumed their roles when the team met on 11 November where they won against Latvia 3–0 and drew against Poland 0–0 .[1]

Recent history (2014–present)

For the UEFA Euro 2016 qualification phase, the Republic of Ireland were drawn in Group D against Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Poland, and Scotland.[41] The team played against Gibraltar for the first time, beating them 7–0, and scored an away draw against World Cup champions, Germany, a few days later in October 2014.[42]

On 8 October 2015, The Republic of Ireland beat World champions Germany 1-0 in the Euro 2016 qualifiers at the Aviva Stadium Dublin. Shane Long scored the game's only goal with an excellent finish[43] in the 70th minute, rewarding the Republic of Ireland's impressive defensive display.[44] The result, hailed as one of the Republic of Ireland's greatest,[45] guaranteed[46] the Republic of Ireland a play-off place at least, with hopes of automatic qualification still a reality going into the final group game against Poland in Warsaw.[47] A win, or a score draw of 2-2 or more[46] would guarantee at least second place in the group, and ensure automatic qualification[48] for the UEFA Euro 2016 Finals in France. However, the Republic of Ireland lost 2-1 to Poland,[49] meaning they will enter into the play-off draw to be made on Sunday, 18 October 2015.[50]

The draw for the Euro 2016 Play-off was made in Nyon, Switzerland, on Sunday, October 18, 2015.[51] Ireland were unseeded in the draw, meaning they could face one of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Sweden or Hungary.[52] Ireland were drawn against Bosnia and Herzegovina, the best seeded team in the play-off.[53] The only previous meeting between the teams resulted in a 1-0 win for The Republic of Ireland in a friendly in 2012 - Shane Long with the game's only goal.[54] Owing to injuries and suspensions, Ireland had only the "B" squad available for the first leg of the play-off, played in Bilino Polje Stadium. A goal from Robbie Brady almost secured a victory for the Irish until Edin Džeko equalized 1–1 to end of the match. In the second leg played at the Aviva Stadium, Jonathan Walters scored two goals leading to a 2-0 victory for the Irish. In the end Ireland won the play-off by 3-1 on aggregate, qualifying them for Euro 2016.[55]

The FIFA World Cup 2018 qualification draw took place on 25 July 2015 when the team were drawn in Group D against Austria, Georgia, Moldova, Serbia, and Wales.[56]

Team image

Kit

Ireland players (L-R) Robbie Keane, Liam Lawrence, Keith Andrews and Greg Cunningham in a 2010 friendly against Algeria

Traditionally, the team has played in a home strip of green shirt, white shorts, and green socks. The second strip is usually the reverse of these colours, although there have been exceptions, such as an orange shirt in the late 1990s. Squad numbers are either white with an orange trim, on the home shirts, or green with an orange trim. The FAI logo appears at the bottom of the numbering.

A limited edition grey shirt was used just once, in a match against Wales on 17 November 2007.[57] A black jersey with a green stripe across the chest was worn in the final game of the 2011 Nations Cup against Scotland and in a friendly against Italy in Liège in Belgium.[58][59]

The current kit has been supplied by Umbro since 1994. In March 2009, Umbro signed a deal with the FAI to keep them as kit suppliers to the team until 2020.[60]

Historical Kits

Home

Classic
1978–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985
1988
1990[61]
1994
1998
2002[62]
2004
2006
2012
2015

Away

1990
1994
2010
2012[63]
2013
2015

Home stadium and other venues

Main articles: Lansdowne Road and Aviva Stadium
Ireland versus Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on 11 August 2010

Since the 1980s, most home matches have been played at Lansdowne Road, Dublin, the national rugby stadium owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). The ground was closed for redevelopment in 2007, with the replacement ground, the Aviva Stadium, opening on 14 May 2010. The first soccer match in the Aviva was Manchester United against a League of Ireland XI side, managed by Damien Richardson, on 4 August 2010.[43] Manchester United won the game 7–1, with Park Ji-Sung scoring the first ever goal in the Aviva Stadium.[64] Aviva Stadium is jointly owned by the IRFU and FAI, although it will return to solely IRFU ownership on expiry of the current 60-year lease.[65] The first football international played at Lansdowne Road by a FAI team was a friendly against Italy in 1971 (an IFA team first played in 1878 against England[66]); a 5–0 victory over San Marino in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group D match on 15 November 2006 was the last game there before the reconstruction.[67] The all-seater capacity of Lansdowne Road prior to the renovation was 36,000, although higher attendances, using the standing only areas, were permitted for friendly matches. The Aviva Stadium's status as an all-seater increased capacity for competitive games to 51,700. The opening game at the Aviva Stadium, a controversial 1–0 friendly defeat to Argentina, was noted for Robbie Keane securing his membership in the FIFA Century Club and manager Giovanni Trapattoni's absence due to surgery, with assistant manager Marco Tardelli taking charge.[68][69]

Main article: Croke Park
Croke Park, the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association, has been used for Irish matches.

With the announcement of the rebuilding of Lansdowne Road, a new venue was required to stage the Republic of Ireland's home internationals. The only stadium in Ireland deemed suitable to stage international football was the 84,500 capacity Croke Park, home of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). To accommodate this, the GAA temporarily relaxed its rule governing the playing of "foreign" games on its property. Initially, four UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group D matches were played at Croke Park in 2007, resulting in two wins and two draws.[70] The GAA initially agreed to allow the FAI use until the end of 2008, and later extended the permission until the completion of Aviva Stadium. The Hill 16 end of Croke Park is a terrace, which means like Lansdowne Road before it, the capacity of the stadium was reduced to around 74,500 for competitive matches as temporary seating must be used.

Prior to the 1980s, the Republic of Ireland played most home games at Dalymount Park, home of Bohemians, but progressively more games were played at Lansdowne Road following a safety review which reduced Dalymount's capacity. The last international match played there was against Morocco in 1990. The Republic of Ireland have also played home matches in Tolka Park (twice) and the RDS Arena in Dublin as well at the Mardyke and Flower Lodge grounds in Cork. These games in Cork were, until 2009, the only two home Irish internationals played outside of Dublin. During the construction of the Aviva Stadium, two friendly games were played in Thomond Park, Limerick, in 2009.[71][72] Two further friendlies were played in the RDS Arena in May 2010.[73][74]

Media coverage

Ireland matches are broadcast by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), Sky Sports, and Setanta Ireland. Sky Sports shows most of Irelands friendly matches, while RTE shows competitive games such as World Cup and European Championship qualifiers.[75] RTÉ briefly lost its broadcast rights in 2002 when the FAI controversially sold them in a multi-million deal to Sky Sports, a subscription based satellite channel.[76] The decision was criticised by fans and politicians,[77][78] and the Consumers' Association of Ireland (CAI) described the FAI as "greedy".[79] The FAI was eventually forced to reverse its decision and to allow RTÉ to continue its broadcasts after the government intervened to stop the sale of important Irish sporting events to non-terrestrial television broadcasters.[80] RTÉ will hold the rights until 2018.[81]

Controversies

The selection[82][83][84] of young Northern Irish born players, especially those who have already represented Northern Ireland at youth level, into Republic of Ireland national teams has been controversial,[85] as these players are able to claim Irish nationality even though born and brought up outside the Republic's territory. This has led to accusations of unfairness and predatory behaviour.[86][87] In Northern Ireland it is seen by Northern Ireland supporters as having the effect of dividing international football in their country along sectarian lines, whereby Nationalists will declare for the Republic of Ireland while Unionists continue to play for Northern Ireland.[88] It has also been argued that it is actually the sectarian divisions, which already existed in Northern Irish football, that are a factor in a number of players switching to the Republic.[89][90] Traditionally, those in the North who identify as Irish, predominantly Catholics and nationalists, support the Republic of Ireland team.[91]

Staff

The senior men's management team are as follows:[92]

Martin O'Neill is the team manager.
Position Name Appointed
Manager Martin O'Neill 5 November 2013 [1]
Assistant manager Roy Keane 5 November 2013 [1]
Assistant manager Steve Walford
Coach Steve Guppy
Goalkeeping coach Jim McDonagh 8 November 2013 [93]
Scout Frank Stapleton
High Performance Director Ruud Dokter 5 April 2013 (commenced 1 August) [94][95]

Squad

Current squad

The following players were named in the squad for the friendly matches against Switzerland and Slovakia on 25 and 29 March 2016.[96][97]
Caps and goals as of 29 March 2016 after the match against Slovakia.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK David Forde (1979-12-20) 20 December 1979 23 0 England Millwall
23 1GK Darren Randolph (1987-05-12) 12 May 1987 8 0 England West Ham United
16 1GK Rob Elliot (1986-04-30) 30 April 1986 4 0 England Newcastle United
4 2DF John O'Shea (Captain) (1981-04-30) 30 April 1981 110 3 England Sunderland
2 2DF Séamus Coleman (1988-10-11) 11 October 1988 33 0 England Everton
17 2DF Stephen Ward (1985-08-20) 20 August 1985 32 2 England Burnley
3 2DF Paul McShane (1986-01-06) 6 January 1986 32 0 England Reading
24 2DF Ciaran Clark (1989-09-26) 26 September 1989 18 2 England Aston Villa
5 2DF Richard Keogh (1986-08-11) 11 August 1986 11 1 England Derby County
12 2DF Alex Pearce (1988-11-09) 9 November 1988 7 2 England Bristol City
15 2DF Cyrus Christie (1992-09-30) 30 September 1992 4 1 England Derby County
29 2DF Shane Duffy (1992-01-01) 1 January 1992 2 0 England Blackburn Rovers
31 2DF Matt Doherty (1992-01-16) 16 January 1992 0 0 England Wolves
7 3MF Aiden McGeady (1986-04-04) 4 April 1986 81 5 England Sheffield Wednesday
6 3MF Glenn Whelan (Vice-captain) (1984-01-13) 13 January 1984 70 2 England Stoke City
8 3MF James McCarthy (1990-11-12) 12 November 1990 35 0 England Everton
11 3MF James McClean (1989-04-22) 22 April 1989 33 5 England West Bromwich Albion
20 3MF Wes Hoolahan (1982-05-20) 20 May 1982 29 2 England Norwich City
19 3MF Robbie Brady (1992-01-14) 14 January 1992 23 4 England Norwich City
18 3MF David Meyler (1989-05-29) 29 May 1989 14 0 England Hull City
22 3MF Stephen Quinn (1986-04-04) 4 April 1986 13 0 England Reading
25 3MF Anthony Pilkington (1988-06-06) 6 June 1988 9 1 Wales Cardiff City
27 3MF Stephen Gleeson (1988-08-03) 3 August 1988 2 0 England Birmingham City
28 3MF Jonny Hayes (1987-07-09) 9 July 1987 2 0 Scotland Aberdeen
30 3MF Alan Judge (1988-11-11) 11 November 1988 1 0 England Brentford
26 3MF Eunan O'Kane (1990-07-10) 10 July 1990 2 0 England Bournemouth
9 4FW Shane Long (1987-01-22) 22 January 1987 61 15 England Southampton

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up to the squad during the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Keiren Westwood (1984-10-23) 23 October 1984 18 0 England Sheffield Wednesday v.   Switzerland, 25 March 2016PRE
GK Stephen Henderson (1988-05-02) 2 May 1988 0 0 England Charlton Athletic v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, 16 November 2015
GK Shay Given (1976-04-20) 20 April 1976 133 0 England Stoke City v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, 13 November 2015 INJ
DF Greg Cunningham (1991-01-31) 31 January 1991 4 0 England Preston North End v.   Switzerland, 25 March 2016PRE
DF Marc Wilson (1987-08-17) 17 August 1987 24 1 England Stoke City v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, 16 November 2015
MF Darron Gibson (1987-10-25) 25 October 1987 25 1 England Everton v.   Switzerland, 25 March 2016PRE
MF Paul Green (1983-04-10) 10 April 1983 20 1 England Rotherham United v.   Switzerland, 25 March 2016PRE
MF Jeff Hendrick (1992-01-31) 31 January 1992 20 0 England Derby County v.   Switzerland, 25 March 2016INJ
MF Harry Arter (1989-12-28) 28 December 1989 1 0 England Bournemouth v.   Switzerland, 25 March 2016INJ
MF Christopher Forrester (1992-12-17) 17 December 1992 0 0 England Peterborough v.   Switzerland, 25 March 2016PRE
FW Kevin Doyle (1983-09-18) 18 September 1983 62 14 United States Colorado Rapids v.  Slovakia, 29 March 2016INJ
FW Daryl Murphy (1983-03-15) 15 March 1983 20 0 England Ipswich Town v.  Slovakia, 29 March 2016INJ
FW Robbie Keane (1980-07-08) 8 July 1980 143 67 United States LA Galaxy v.   Switzerland, 25 March 2016INJ
FW Jonathan Walters (1983-09-20) 20 September 1983 38 10 England Stoke City v.   Switzerland, 25 March 2016INJ
FW Simon Cox (1987-04-28) 28 April 1987 30 4 England Reading v.   Switzerland, 25 March 2016PRE
FW Anthony Stokes (1988-07-25) 25 July 1988 9 0 Scotland Hibernian v.   Switzerland, 25 March 2016PRE
FW David McGoldrick (1987-11-29) 29 November 1987 2 0 England Ipswich Town v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, 13 November 2015 INJ
FW Adam Rooney (1988-04-21) 21 April 1988 0 0 Scotland Aberdeen v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, 13 November 2015 PRE
Notes

Previous squads

FIFA World Cup squads
UEFA European Football Championship squads

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Ireland Competed as "Irish Free State". Paddy Moore (v. Belgium) became the first player anywhere to score 4 goals in a World Cup match. For the 1950 FIFA World Cup, after 3 qualified teams withdrew, FIFA invited the FAI to compete as a replacement: they declined.[98] During qualification for the 1962 FIFA World Cup, it was the only qualifying tournament in which the team had a 0% record. During qualification for the 1966 World Cup, Ireland reached their first playoff against Spain. Goal difference did not count, so a playoff was played in Stade Colombes, Paris and Ireland failed to progress. Ireland almost qualified but lost on goal difference to France in a tough and tight group. Fans lamented some controversial refereeing decisions[99]

For the 1990 FIFA World Cup Ireland reached the quarter finals of the tournament for the first time in their history. It was Ireland's first ever participation in a FIFA World Cup. Ireland played England in the first drawing 1–1.[100] Ireland drew the next 2 games but ultimately qualified for the knockout stages where they played Romania. The match ended 0–0 and Ireland won on Penalties 5–4 which sent Ireland into the quarter final showdown against the tournament host Italy. Ireland lost 1–0 via a Salvatore Schillaci goal at the 38 minute and sent the Irish out of the competition.

Ray Houghton scored against Italy at the 1994 FIFA World Cup

In 1994 Ireland participated in their second consecutive World Cup.[101] This time they were drawn with Mexico, Norway and Italy. Ireland won their first game against Italy which was the first time Ireland had won a World Cup match and their first ever victory over Italy with a spectacular goal from Ray Houghton. Ireland lost against Mexico in the second group match and drew with Norway but still made to the knockout phase where they faced the Netherlands. Ireland lost 2–0.

For the 1998 qualification campaign, Ireland scraped into the playoffs largely due to Tony Cascarino's 7 goals in 10 games. They lost in the playoff against Belgium, drawing 1–1 in the first leg then losing 2–1 in the second leg.[102] Although for next campaign Ireland were drawn with 2 big European nations, the Netherlands, Portugal. Ireland went the whole campaign unbeaten, beating the Netherlands 1–0 in the process courtesy of a Jason McAteer goal that helped Ireland qualify.[103]

Main article: Saipan Incident

At the start of the tournament, captain Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy where involved in a "bust up" and Keane was sent home. Despite this McCarthy did not call up a replacement and continued with 22 players. Ireland drew in their first match against Cameroon and in their second match they drew again against the tournaments runner up Germany. In Ireland's final group game they defeated Saudi Arabia which was their second ever victory in a FIFA World Cup and progressed them to the round of 16. Ireland met Spain and lost in penalty shoot out.[104]

With failure to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ireland reached a playoff against France for a place at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[105]

France's Thierry Henry's handball stirred international controversy after the move set up William Gallas to score in extra-time of the second leg of the playoff; the referee did not notice and allowed the goal to stand, leading to widespread media controversy, protests at the French embassy in Dublin and comments from senior government officials from both countries.[106][107][108]

FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D * L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA Position
Uruguay 1930 Did not enter – – – – – – –
Italy 1934 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 6 9 3/3
France 1938 2 0 1 1 5 6 2/2
Brazil 1950 4 1 1 2 6 7 2/3
Switzerland 1954 4 2 0 2 8 6 2/3
Sweden 1958 4 2 1 1 6 7 2/3
Chile 1962 4 0 0 4 3 17 3/3
England 1966 3 1 0 2 2 5 Lost Playoff
Mexico 1970 6 0 1 5 3 14 4/4
West Germany 1974 4 1 1 2 4 5 2/3
Argentina 1978 4 1 1 2 2 4 3/3
Spain 1982 8 4 2 2 17 11 3/5
Mexico 1986 8 2 2 4 5 10 4/5
Italy 1990 Quarter-Finals 7th 5 0 4 1 2 3 8 5 2 1 10 2 2/5
United States 1994 Round of 16 15th 4 1 1 2 2 4 12 7 4 1 19 6 2/7
France 1998 Did not qualify 12 5 4 3 24 11 2/6 Lost Playoff
South Korea Japan 2002 Round of 16 12th 4 1 3 0 6 3 12 8 3 1 25 6 2/6 Won Playoff
Germany 2006 Did not qualify 10 4 5 1 12 5 4/6
South Africa 2010 12 4 7 1 13 10 2/6 Lost Playoff
Brazil 2014 10 4 2 4 16 17 4/6
Russia 2018 Qualification begins September 2016 0 0 0 0 0 0 4/6
Total Quarter-Finals 3/20 13 2 8 3 10 10 129 51 38 40 186 158
Draws include knockout matches decided by penalty shootout.

UEFA European Championship

Irish line up for Ireland's fixture against Croatia

In 1964 Ireland reached the quarter finals of qualifying for the European Championship.[109]

Ireland did not qualify for a European Championship until the 1988 UEFA European Championship. On 12 June 1988 in Stuttgart the Irish football team took to the pitch in its first match at a major championship finals competition. Ray Houghton of Liverpool FC scored the only goal of the match as Ireland recorded a memorable and historic victory. Ireland took on the former Soviet Union next and took the lead late in the first half via a spectacular volley from Liverpool's Ronnie Whelan. Unfortunately for both Whelan and Ireland the lead was cancelled out midway through the second half by Oleh Protasov as the match ended in a 1–1 draw.[110] In their final match the Netherlands won 1–0 and the Irish were heading home.

It was not until 2011 were Ireland clinched a place at UEFA Euro 2012 with 5–1 aggregate victory over Estonia.[111] Ireland lost all 3 games and conceded 9 goals which was Ireland's worst performance in major tournament to date.[112]

Championship record Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA Position
France 1960 Did not qualify 2 1 0 1 2 4 Preliminary round
Spain 1964 6 2 2 2 9 12 Quarter-final
Italy 1968 6 2 1 3 5 8 3/4
Belgium 1972 6 0 1 5 3 17 4/4
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976 6 3 1 2 11 5 2/4
Italy 1980 8 2 3 3 9 8 3/5
France 1984 8 4 1 3 20 10 3/5
West Germany 1988[113] Group stage Group 2 (3/4) 3 1 1 1 2 2 8 4 3 1 10 5 1/5
Sweden 1992 Did not qualify 6 2 4 0 13 6 2/4
England 1996 11 5 2 4 17 13 2/6 Lost Playoff
Belgium Netherlands 2000 10 5 3 2 15 7 2/5 Lost Playoff
Portugal 2004 8 3 2 3 10 11 3/5
Austria Switzerland 2008 12 4 5 3 17 14 3/7
Poland Ukraine 2012[114] Group Stage Group C (4/4) 3 0 0 3 1 9 12 7 4 1 20 8 2/6 Won Playoff
France 2016 Qualified 12 6 4 2 22 8 3/6 Won Playoff
Total Group stage 2/14 6 1 1 4 3 11 113 46 33 34 166 132

Other tournaments

Year Position GP W D L GS GA
France 1924 Olympics5th210122
United Kingdom 1948 Olympics17th100113
Brazil 1972 Brazil Independence Cup13th420277
Japan 1984 Kirin Cup2nd412122
Iceland 1986 Iceland Triangular Tournament1st220031
United States 1992 U.S. Cup3rd310235
United States 1996 U.S. Cup2nd311164
United States 2000 U.S. Cup2nd312054
England 2004 Unity Cup2nd210113
Republic of Ireland 2011 Celtic Nations Cup1st330090
Total 2413383829

Opponents

The team's head-to-head records against all 76 nations whom they have played to date, including friendly internationals:[115] Three of these teams no longer exist (Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia), so Ireland have played against 73 of the current 209 FIFA members: 50 UEFA, 8 CONMEBOL, 7 CAF, 6 CONCACAF and 5 AFC members as of 11 October 2014.[116] The only UEFA members against whom Ireland have not played are: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova, Slovenia, and Ukraine. Ireland have been drawn in the same 2018 World Cup qualification group as Moldova, and are scheduled to play them for the first time on 9 October 2016.[117] Ireland are also scheduled to play a friendly against Belarus in Cork on May 31, 2016.[118]

As of 26 March 2016.

Against Region P W D L GF GA GD Win % First match Last match
 Albania UEFA 4 3 1 0 6 2 +4 75% 1992-05-26 2003-06-07
 Algeria CAF 2 1 0 1 3 2 +1 50% 1982-04-28 2010-05-29
 Andorra UEFA 4 4 0 0 11 2 +9 100% 2001-03-28 2011-10-07
 Argentina CONMEBOL 4 0 0 4 0 5 −5 0% 1951-05-13 2010-08-11
 Armenia UEFA 2 2 0 0 3 1 +2 100% 2010-09-03 2011-10-11
 Australia AFC 2 1 0 1 2 4 −2 50% 2003-08-19 2009-08-12
 Austria UEFA 14 2 3 9 17 36 −19 14.29% 1952-05-07 2013-09-10
 Belgium UEFA 14 4 5 5 24 25 −1 28.57% 1928-02-12 1997-11-15
 Bolivia CONMEBOL 3 2 1 0 5 1 +4 66.67% 1994-05-24 2007-05-26
 Bosnia and Herzegovina UEFA 3 2 1 0 4 1 +3 66.67% 2012-05-26 2015-11-16
 Brazil CONMEBOL 6 1 1 4 2 12 −10 16.67% 1974-05-05 2010-03-02
 Bulgaria UEFA 10 3 4 3 11 8 +3 30% 1924-05-28 2009-06-06
 Cameroon CAF 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0% 2002-06-01 2002-06-01
 Canada CONCACAF 1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 100% 2003-11-18 2003-11-18
 Chile CONMEBOL 6 2 1 3 6 6 0 33.33% 1960-03-30 2006-05-24
 China PR AFC 2 2 0 0 2 0 +2 100% 1984-06-03 2005-03-29
 Colombia CONMEBOL 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 100% 2008-05-29 2008-05-29
 Costa Rica CONCACAF 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0% 2014-06-06 2014-06-06
 Croatia UEFA 7 2 3 2 8 8 0 28.57% 1996-06-02 2012-06-10
 Cyprus UEFA 10 8 1 1 27 9 +18 80% 1980-03-26 2009-09-05
 Czech Republic UEFA 8 2 2 4 9 13 −4 25% 1994-06-05 2012-02-29
 Czechoslovakia UEFA 12 4 1 7 14 29 −15 33.33% 1938-05-18 1986-05-27
 Denmark UEFA 13 5 5 3 20 16 +4 38.46% 1956-10-03 2007-08-22
 Ecuador CONMEBOL 2 1 1 0 4 3 +1 50% 1972-06-18 2007-05-23
 Egypt CAF 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0% 1990-06-17 1990-06-17
 England UEFA 16 3 8 5 14 20 −6 18.75% 1946-09-30 2015-06-07
 Estonia UEFA 5 4 1 0 12 2 +10 80% 1924-06-03 2011-11-15
 Faroe Islands UEFA 4 4 0 0 11 1 +10 100% 2004-10-13 2013-06-07
 Finland UEFA 5 3 2 0 11 2 +9 60% 1949-09-08 2002-08-21
 France UEFA 15 4 5 6 14 18 −4 26.67% 1937-05-23 2009-11-18
 Georgia UEFA 7 7 0 0 15 4 +11 100% 2003-03-29 2015-09-07
 Germany a UEFA 20 6 5 9 24 35 −11 30% 1935-05-08 2015-10-08
 Germany 'B' UEFA 2 1 0 1 1 3 −2 50% 1975-03-01 1981-05-21
 Gibraltar UEFA 2 2 0 0 11 0 +11 100% 2014-10-11 2015-09-04
 Greece UEFA 3 0 1 2 0 2 −2 0% 2000-04-26 2012-11-14
 Hungary UEFA 11 2 5 4 16 21 −5 18.18% 1934-12-15 2012-06-04
 Iceland UEFA 7 5 2 0 16 6 +10 71.43% 1962-08-12 1997-09-06
 Iran AFC 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 66.67% 1972-06-11 2001-11-15
 Israel UEFA 5 1 3 1 8 6 +2 20% 1984-04-04 2005-06-04
 Italy UEFA 13 2 3 8 9 20 −11 16.67% 1926-03-21 2014-05-31
 Italy 'B' UEFA 1 0 0 1 1 2 −1 0% 1927-04-23 1927-04-23
 Jamaica CONCACAF 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 100% 2004-06-02 2004-06-02
 Kazakhstan UEFA 2 2 0 0 5 2 +3 100% 2012-09-07 2013-10-15
 Latvia UEFA 5 5 0 0 14 1 +13 100% 1992-09-09 2013-11-15
 Liechtenstein UEFA 4 3 1 0 14 0 +14 75% 1994-10-12 1997-05-21
 Lithuania UEFA 4 3 1 0 5 1 +4 75% 1993-06-16 1997-09-10
 Luxembourg UEFA 5 5 0 0 14 2 +12 100% 1936-05-09 1987-09-09
 Macedonia UEFA 6 4 1 1 11 5 +6 66.67% 1996-10-09 2011-06-04
 Malta UEFA 7 7 0 0 24 2 +22 100% 1983-03-30 1999-09-08
 Mexico CONCACAF 5 0 4 1 5 6 −1 0% 1984-08-08 2000-06-04
 Montenegro UEFA 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0% 2008-09-10 2009-10-14
 Morocco CAF 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 100% 1990-09-12 1990-09-12
 Netherlands UEFA 21 7 3 11 28 39 −11 33.33% 1924-06-02 2006-08-16
 Nigeria CAF 3 0 1 2 2 6 −4 0% 2002-05-16 2009-05-29
 Northern Ireland UEFA 10 4 4 2 17 4 +13 40% 1978-09-20 2011-05-24
 Norway UEFA 18 7 8 3 29 19 +10 38.89% 1937-10-10 2010-11-17
 Oman AFC 2 2 0 0 6 1 +5 100% 2012-09-11 2014-09-03
 Paraguay CONMEBOL 2 2 0 0 4 1 +3 100% 1999-02-10 2010-05-25
 Poland UEFA 27 6 10 11 29 43 −14 22.22% 1938-05-22 2015-10-11
 Portugal UEFA 13 4 2 7 10 20 −10 33.33% 1946-06-16 2014-06-10
 Romania UEFA 5 2 2 1 4 2 +2 40% 1988-03-23 2004-05-27
 Russia UEFA 7 1 3 3 7 10 −3 14.29% 1994-03-23 2011-09-06
 San Marino UEFA 2 2 0 0 7 1 +6 100% 2006-11-15 2007-02-07
 Saudi Arabia AFC 1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 100% 2002-06-11 2002-06-11
 Scotland UEFA 11 4 3 4 9 12 −3 36.36% 1961-05-03 2015-06-13
 Serbia b UEFA 7 2 2 3 7 9 −2 28.57% 1955-10-19 2014-03-05
 Slovakia UEFA 4 1 3 0 4 3 +1 25% 2007-03-28 2011-09-02
 South Africa CAF 2 2 0 0 3 1 +2 100% 2000-06-11 2009-09-08
 Soviet Union UEFA 8 3 1 4 8 8 0 37.5% 1972-10-18 1990-04-25
 Spain UEFA 26 4 7 15 18 54 −36 15.38% 1931-04-26 2013-06-11
 Sweden UEFA 10 3 2 5 13 16 −3 30% 1949-06-02 2013-09-06
  Switzerland UEFA 16 8 3 5 18 10 +8 50% 1935-05-05 2016-03-25
 Trinidad and Tobago CONCACAF 1 0 0 1 1 2 −1 0% 1982-05-30 1982-05-30
 Tunisia CAF 1 1 0 0 4 0 +4 100% 1988-10-19 1988-10-19
 Turkey UEFA 13 5 6 2 27 15 +12 41.67% 1966-11-16 2014-05-25
 United States CONCACAF 9 5 2 2 20 13 +7 55.56% 1924-06-14 2014-11-18
 Uruguay CONMEBOL 3 0 1 2 3 6 −3 0% 1974-05-08 2011-03-29
 Wales UEFA 13 5 3 5 16 13 +3 41.67% 1960-09-28 2013-08-14
Total 76 nations 528 210 143 175 741 656 +85 39.77%
a.^ "Germany" includes nine games against West Germany which were played between 1950 and German reunification in 1990.
b.^ "Serbia" includes two games against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which existed between 1992 and 2003.

Honours

Jack Charlton is Ireland's most successful manager

Friendly titles

Winners (1): 2011
Winners (1): 1986

Other awards

Winners (1) 1997
Holders (2): 30 March 1977 – 1 July 1977, 31 March 2004 – 29 May 2004

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

Ireland began their qualification campaign for the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament with a 1–2 away victory against Georgia.[119] This was followed by a 7–0 home victory against Gibraltar,[120] and on 14 October 2014, the team played a 1–1 away draw against world champions, Germany, when a goal by John O'Shea won Ireland a late point in the 94th minute.[121] They then suffered their first defeat of the campaign to Scotland; losing 1-0, before scoring another late goal through Shane Long to make it 1-1 and earn a well-deserved point against Poland at home. They then drew 1-1 at home to Scotland, before winning 3 games in a row against Gibraltar, Georgia and Germany; 4-0, 1-0 and 1-0 respectively. Shane Long scored the memorable winner against the World Champions Germany. However, in their last group game, they lost 2-1 away to Poland and missed out on an qualifying spot, finishing third in the group and advancing to the play-offs. They were drawn against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the play-offs. They drew the first leg away 1-1, and won the second leg 2-0, winning 3-1 on aggregate and qualifying for UEFA Euro 2016 in France.

Schedule

As of 30 March 2016
Date Competition Venue Opponent Result Scorers
29 March 2015 Euro 2016 qualifier Dublin, Ireland  Poland 1 – 1 Sławomir Peszko  26', Shane Long  90+1' [122]
4 June 2015 Training match Dublin, Ireland  Northern Ireland 0 – 0 Unofficial training match behind closed doors.[123][124]
7 June 2015 Friendly match Dublin, Ireland  England 0 – 0 [125]
13 June 2015 Euro 2016 qualifier Dublin, Ireland  Scotland 1 – 1 Jonathan Walters  38', John O'Shea  47' (o.g.) [126]
4 September 2015 Euro 2016 qualifier Faro, Portugal  Gibraltar 0 – 4 Cyrus Christie  27', Robbie Keane  49', 51' (pen), Shane Long  79' [127]
7 September 2015 Euro 2016 qualifier Dublin, Ireland  Georgia 1 – 0 Jonathan Walters  69' [128][129][130]
8 October 2015 Euro 2016 qualifier Dublin, Ireland  Germany 1 – 0 Shane Long  70' [131]
11 October 2015 Euro 2016 qualifier Warsaw, Poland  Poland 2 – 1 Grzegorz Krychowiak  13', Jonathan Walters  16' (pen), Robert Lewandowski  42' [132][133]
13 November 2015 Euro 2016 play-off Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 – 1 Robbie Brady  82',[134][135]
16 November 2015 Euro 2016 play-off Dublin, Ireland  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 – 0 Jonathan Walters  24' (pen),  70',[136][137]
25 March 2016 Friendly match Dublin, Ireland   Switzerland 1 – 0 Ciaran Clark  2'[138]
29 March 2016 Friendly match Dublin, Ireland  Slovakia 2 – 2 Long  22' (pen.), McClean  24' (pen.)[139]
27 May 2016 Friendly match Dublin, Ireland  Netherlands – [140]
31 May 2016 Friendly match Cork, Ireland  Belarus – [141]
13 June 2016 Euro 2016 Paris, France  Sweden – [142]
18 June 2016 Euro 2016 Bordeaux, France  Belgium – [143]
22 June 2016 Euro 2016 Lille, France  Italy – [144]
5 September 2016 World Cup 2018 qualifier Belgrade, Serbia  Serbia – [145]
6 October 2016 World Cup 2018 qualifier Dublin, Ireland  Georgia – [145]
9 October 2016 World Cup 2018 qualifier Chișinău, Moldova  Moldova – [145]
12 November 2016 World Cup 2018 qualifier Vienna, Austria  Austria – [145]
24 March 2017 World Cup 2018 qualifier Dublin, Ireland  Wales – [145]
11 June 2017 World Cup 2018 qualifier Dublin, Ireland  Austria – [145]
2 September 2017 World Cup 2018 qualifier Tbilisi, Georgia  Georgia – [145]
5 September 2017 World Cup 2018 qualifier Dublin, Ireland  Serbia – [145]
6 October 2017 World Cup 2018 qualifier Dublin, Ireland  Moldova – [145]
9 October 2017 World Cup 2018 qualifier Cardiff, Wales  Wales – [145]

FIFA rankings

[146]

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
10 9 28 36 47 56 35 31 17 14 14 12 24 49 35 38 35 36 22 42 67 64 31

Records

Robbie Keane, top goalscorer and the most capped player
Shay Given, most capped goalkeeper and the second most capped player
  Players still active are highlighted in green

Most capped players

As of 29 March 2016[147]
# Player National
career		 Caps Goals
1. Keane, RobbieRobbie Keane 1998– 143 67
2. Given, ShayShay Given 1996– 133 0
3. Kilbane, KevinKevin Kilbane 1997–2011 110 8
Oshea, JohnJohn O'Shea 2001– 110 3
5. Staunton, SteveSteve Staunton 1988–2002 102 7
6. Duff, DamienDamien Duff 1998–2012 100 8
7. Quinn, NiallNiall Quinn 1986–2002 91 21
8. Cascarino, TonyTony Cascarino 1985–2000 88 19
9. Macgrath, PaulPaul McGrath 1985–1997 83 8
10. McGeady, AidenAiden McGeady 2004- 81 5

Record goalscorers

As of 29 March 2016[147]
# Player National career Goals Caps Average
1. Keane, RobbieRobbie Keane (list) 1998– 67 143 0.47
2. Quinn, NiallNiall Quinn 1986–2002 21 91 0.23
3. Stapleton, FrankFrank Stapleton 1977–1990 20 71 0.28
4. Givens, DonDon Givens 1969–1981 19 56 0.34
Aldridge, JohnJohn Aldridge 1986–1997 19 69 0.28
Cascarino, TonyTony Cascarino 1985–2000 19 88 0.22
7. Long, ShaneShane Long 2007– 15 61 0.25
8. Cantwell, NoelNoel Cantwell 1953–1967 14 36 0.39
Doyle, KevinKevin Doyle 2006– 14 62 0.23
10. Dunne, JimmyJimmy Dunne 1930–1939 13 15 0.87
Daly, GerryGerry Daly 1973–1986 13 48 0.27

Managers

Between 1921 and 1969 a committee of selectors chose the team, on occasions a coach or team manager was appointed; Mick Meagan was the first manager to actually select the team.[148] Managers from the periods in which the national side was known as the Irish Free State or simply Ireland are obscure and many are not currently known, however it is known that Val Harris, Bill Lacey and Alex Stevenson managed the side.[149]

Manager records

As of 16 November 2015
Manager Career P W D L GF GA GD Win % Loss % Notes
Meagan, MickMick Meagan 1969–1971 12 0 3 9 7 26 −19 0% 75%
Tuohy, LiamLiam Tuohy 1971–1973 10 3 1 6 11 20 −9 30% 60%
Thomas, SeánSeán Thomas 1973 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0% 0% Caretaker
Giles, JohnnyJohnny Giles 1973–1980 36 13 9 14 48 45 3 38.9% 38.9%
Kelly, Sr., AlanAlan Kelly, Sr. 1980 1 1 0 0 2 0 2 100% 0% Caretaker
Hand, EoinEoin Hand 1980–1985 39 11 9 19 47 56 −9 28.2% 51.3%
Charlton, JackJack Charlton 1986–1995 93 47 29 17 132 67 65 50.5% 18.3% Qualified for Euro 1988, and World Cups 1990 and 1994
McCarthy, MickMick McCarthy 1996–2002 68 29 19 20 113 68 45 42.6% 29.4% Qualified for 2002 World Cup
Givens, DonDon Givens 2002 and
2007–8		 3 0 2 1 2 3 −1 0% 33.3% Caretaker
Kerr, BrianBrian Kerr 2003–2005 33 18 11 4 39 20 19 54.5% 12.1%
Staunton, SteveSteve Staunton 2006–2007 17 6 6 5 24 19 5 35.3% 29.4%
Trapattoni, GiovanniGiovanni Trapattoni 2008–2013 64 26 22 16 86 64 22 40.6% 25% Qualified for Euro 2012
King, NoelNoel King 2013 2 1 0 1 3 4 −1 50% 50% Caretaker
O'Neill, MartinMartin O'Neill 2013– 23 10 8 5 36 19 17 40.9% 22.7% Qualified for Euro 2016

Pictures

See also

Notes

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 New Senior international management team confirmed Football Association of Ireland, 2013-11-05.
    2. ↑ http://nifootball.blogspot.com/2010/03/northern-ireland-programmes-1882-1889.html
    3. ↑ FIFA Rankings FIFA.com. Retrieved: 2014-03-13.
    4. ↑ Byrne, Peter (1996). Football Association of Ireland: 75 years. Dublin: Sportsworld. p. 22. ISBN 1-900110-06-7.
    5. ↑ Byrne, Peter (1996). Football Association of Ireland: 75 years. Dublin: Sportsworld. p. 22. ISBN 1-900110-06-7.
    6. ↑ "1924 Olympic Games at Rsssf". RSSSF.
    7. ↑ "History of Irish Football". clubi.ie.
    8. ↑ "United States results at Rsssf". RSSSF.
    9. 1 2 http://www.soccer-ireland.com/irish-football-results/1940-1959.htm
    10. ↑ "List of Dual Internationalists". nifootball.
    11. ↑ Ryan, op. cit. pg 59.
    12. ↑ Byrne, op. cit., pg 68.
    13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Leahy, Ed (10 November 2011). "Ireland's chequered play-off history". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
    14. ↑ Nugent, Michael (20 September 2007). "FAI-Total Official Looniness Abroad". Retrieved 21 December 2007.
    15. ↑ http://www.soccer-ireland.com/irish-football-results/1970-1979.htm
    16. ↑ http://www.fai.ie/domestic/news/fai-history-1960-1986
    17. ↑ "Iceland Triangular Tournament 1986". RSSSF.
    18. ↑ SOCCER; "Ireland Brings Cup Team With an English Accent to America", The New York Times, 29 May 1994.
    19. ↑ Davidson, Alan (12 November 1987). "Too late but new boys look good for future". Evening Times. p. 26. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
    20. ↑ "Ireland at Euro 1988 Finals". Soccer-Ireland.com. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
    21. ↑ "Italia '90 Revisited". entertainment.ie. 16 October 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
    22. ↑ "Irish Fans win FIFA Fair Play Award". FIFA. 1 December 1997. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
    23. ↑ "PLUS: SOCCER; Ireland's Top Player Is Told to Go Home". The New York Times. 24 May 2002. Retrieved 24 May 2002.
    24. ↑ "Rep of Ireland v Cameroon photos". BBC Sport. 30 May 2002. Retrieved 30 May 2002.
    25. ↑ Kelso, Paul (6 June 2002). "Last-gasp draw sends Irish dancing". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2002.
    26. ↑ "Ireland stroll into last 16". BBC Sport. 11 June 2002. Retrieved 11 June 2002.
    27. ↑ O'Neill, Sean (17 June 2002). "Heartbreak but Irish hold their heads high". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 June 2002.
    28. ↑ Hayward, Paul (7 November 2002). "Departing Mick the victim of McCarthyism – Irish style". Irish Independent. Retrieved 7 November 2002.
    29. ↑ "Sacked Kerr aims for job abroad". BBC Sport. 7 November 2005. Retrieved 7 November 2005.
    30. ↑ "Irish management duo confirmed". RTÉ Sport. 13 January 2006. Retrieved 13 January 2006.
    31. ↑ "FAI & Staunton part company". RTÉ Sport. 24 October 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2007.
    32. ↑ "Ireland humiliated by Cyprus". RTÉ Sport. 7 October 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2006.
    33. ↑ Hodges, Vicki (13 February 2008). "Giovanni Trapattoni is new Ireland manager". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
    34. ↑ "FIFA.com". FIFA. 18 November 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
    35. ↑ "Massive injustice for boys in green as ref howler sends French to South Africa". Irish Independent. 19 November 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
    36. ↑ "Fifa to seed countries for play-off draw". The Irish Times. 30 September 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
    37. ↑ "Ireland win Nations Cup". Setanta Sports. 29 May 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
    38. ↑ "Ireland fans earn UEFA award at Euro 2012". Associated Press (San Francisco Chronicle). 30 June 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
    39. ↑ "Ireland's World Cup qualifying fixtures agreed". RTÉ Sport. 18 November 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
    40. ↑ "Giovanni Trapattoni stands down as Republic of Ireland manager". BBC Sport. 11 September 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
    41. ↑ http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/qualifiers/season=2016/standings/index.html
    42. ↑ http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/qualifiers/season=2016/matches/day=3/session=3/index.html
    43. ↑ http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2015/1008/733409-shane-long-stuns/
    44. ↑ http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2015/1008/733432-video/
    45. ↑ http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/international/ireland-1-germany-0-straight-into-the-top-five-of-irish-wins-1.2385448,
    46. 1 2 http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2015/1009/733529-irelands-euro-2016/
    47. ↑ http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/qualifiers/season=2016/matches/day=10/session=2/index.html
    48. ↑ http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=2039404.html
    49. ↑ http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/qualifiers/season=2016/matches/round=2000446/match=2014050/index.html
    50. ↑ http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/finals/draws/
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    122. ↑ RTÉ Sport, 2015-03-29.
    123. ↑ Republic of Ireland to join Northern Ireland in training game Football Association of Ireland, 2015-04-27.
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    126. ↑ Ireland's Euro 2016 hopes fade after draw against Scotland RTÉ Sport, 2015-06-13.
    127. ↑ Ireland on the rise after brushing aside Gibraltar RTÉ Sport, 2015-09-04.
    128. ↑ Ireland edge past Georgia to stay in contention
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    130. ↑ Relieved O’Neill looks to future tests after Georgia victory Irish Times, 2015-09-07.
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    132. ↑ Poland–Republic of Ireland UEFA, 2014-02-24.
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    134. ↑ Ireland dream of qualification after foggy draw RTÉ Sport, 2015-11-14.
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    140. ↑ RTÉ Sport, 2015-10-23.
    141. ↑ The42.ie, 2016-03-28.
    142. ↑ Republic of Ireland v Sweden UEFA, 2015-12-12.
    143. ↑ Belgium v Republic of Ireland UEFA, 2015-12-12.
    144. ↑ Italy v Republic of Ireland UEFA, 2015-12-12.
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