Ireland vote to play Israel after internal debate

Ireland's national team has decided to take the field against Israel after a team vote, despite reported opposition from several players. According to the Football Association of Ireland, seven members of the squad opposed playing, but a majority voted in favour of travelling to Hungary to fulfil the fixture.

Squad met for hours before voting

David Kurel, head of the Football Association of Ireland, said the players spoke at length the previous evening. "They talked for a long time the previous evening. More than two hours," he said, and added that discussions continued into the morning.

Kurel also said: "The players decided to travel to Hungary, and this morning one of the players expressed a wish to withdraw from the squad. We talked in the last four hours, different views were expressed and we respected everything fully. In the end, the team voted. The majority wanted the matches to be played and the Football Association decided that the matches would be played nonetheless."

Manager Hajmir Halgrimson acknowledged the situation remains unsettled. "It worried us a little bit, but we will continue to talk. We have not reached any conclusion, we will talk more. This is really a unique situation," he said, adding that the episode had affected the players.

Halgrimson also stressed the team wanted to limit damage to Irish football: "Of course, all of this affects the players. No one is happy. We wanted to do as little damage as possible to Irish football and we had to find a solution."

The international friendly between Israel and the Republic of Ireland is scheduled for 27 September 2026. The squad’s vote and the association’s decision follow a period of intense internal debate over whether to play.

Photo: press material from the event