The Ireland national team is set to fulfil a pair of Uefa Nations League games against Israel amid a war of words between the two camps and public outcry back home.
The team's Icelandic head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson had said when announcing his squad that they were “playing against genocide,” while Israel's FA fired back on Monday, accusing him of “ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity".
The first game between the sides takes place on Sunday. Israel are nominally the home team, but are banned from hosting games, so the match will take place in Debrecen, Hungary.
The return, set for October 4, will also be played at a neutral venue after the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) asked Uefa to move the game away from Dublin on security grounds. The fixture will be played in Backa Topola, Serbia. Both matches will be played behind closed doors, with no fans present.
Irish support for Palestine
It has since emerged that the FAI made an official request to Uefa that they be kept apart from Israel. The request was rejected and the nations were drawn together in Nations League group B3.
FAI chief executive David Courell said Uefa told them that such restrictions are not based on public sentiment and that Ireland and Israel could not be separated because they have “never been in direct conflict.”
From that moment on, there were calls in Ireland for the games to be boycotted. Public opinion in Ireland is ardently pro-Palestine.
In November 2025, the FAI's general assembly voted overwhelmingly for its board to submit a formal motion urging Uefa to suspend Israel.
However, in July, FAI delegates voted 75 to 32 (with three abstentions) at an emergency general meeting to endorse the board's decision to fulfil the Nations League fixtures, rather than face sanctions from Uefa.
More than 74,000 Palestinians, including more than 20,000 children, are estimated to have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of their military response to the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023.
Protests and calls for a boycott
An open letter signed by 160 Irish athletes and public figures asking the team to boycott the games has been published by the Irish Sport for Palestine Group.
The group said signatories included Olympian Ciara Mageean, former footballer Louise Quinn, former rugby fly-half Tony Ward and boxers Tyrone McKenna and Eric Donovan.
“This is a significant moment and with this moment you have an opportunity to do the right thing,” the letter said. “Not playing the game would be the most sporting thing you could do. Through your leadership and courage, it would show the power of sport to unite, remind us of the shared values that connect us all, and have an impact far beyond the game.”
The “Stop the Game” letter has also been signed by former Ireland manager Brian Kerr, Oscar-nominated actor Stephen Rea and Roberto 'Pico' Lopes, the Shamrock Rovers captain and Cape Verde World Cup star.
“We can’t ignore the humanitarian catastrophe in Palestine; the sheer loss of life there has to take precedence over any sporting consideration,” said the Dublin-born Lopes.
On Monday, protesters gathered outside the Ireland team's Dublin hotel. They held signs which read “no sports-washing Israel” and “don't endorse the killing of children.”
Meanwhile, Irish broadcaster RTE has scaled back its coverage of the games. RTE is contractually required to show both games, but there will be no studio presence, pundits or RTE commentator. The broadcaster has also opted not to sell advertising or sponsorship. Commentary will come from the international feed.
The FAI is scaling back its own presence. Sponsor names and logos will be removed for Ireland’s nominal home game and replaced by ‘Respect’ messaging.
What have the Irish players said?
Back in May, then Ireland captain Seamus Coleman said the players were uncomfortable having to play against Israel. “It should have been dealt with above us,” the former Everton full-back said. “I am a dad, I am a husband, I've got a heart, I know the difference between right and wrong.”
The dispute escalated when Hallgrimsson made his squad announcement for the games.
The 59-year-old said: “We're not playing with genocide, we're playing against genocide. We're playing against Israel, we're not playing with Israel.”
On Monday, the Israeli FA answered those comments on social media, saying: “We have contributed to the world and humanity in countless fields, earning an impressive number of Nobel Prizes along the way. Unfortunately, we have not yet found a cure for stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy displayed by @IrelandFootball team coach. We're not playing with ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity, we're playing against the coach who embodies them.” The FAI has not responded to those comments.
