Although the Republic of Ireland national soccer team confirmed it will play Israel as scheduled on Sunday night in Debrecen, Hungary despite internal players' dispute regarding the fixture, the tumultuous saga is far from over, as the teams' return match next week faces ongoing protests, backlash and opposition.
Last February, Ireland was drawn in the same group as Israel in the 2026–27 UEFA Nations League B, prompting a vocal campaign calling on the Irish national team to boycott the matches over the war in Gaza, which began after Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack.
The "Stop The Game" organization, described as a "broad campaign of Irish football supporters, players, coaches and administrators opposed to sportswashing genocide," was established to protest the scheduled games and call for a boycott. 160 Irish sports figures and athletes signed a petition against the matches, while many others also called on the national team to boycott the games.
As recently as last week, former Ireland international James McClean told the Irish Mirror: "You play the game and history will always remember you as the ones who played the game. If you don't play the game, you've the backing of a full nation and probably beyond the nation."
"You are either going to stand on the right side or the wrong side of history. Until that first whistle goes, you still have that opportunity to do the right thing," he was quoted as saying.
McClean is not wrong: Ireland is the country most opposed to Israel across Europe. According to public opinion polls, 86 percent of Irish respondents believe a genocide is taking place in Gaza; 76 percent support economic sanctions on Israel as a whole, rather than just on goods imported from West Bank settlements, and 71 percent consider Israel an apartheid state. Most significantly, 75 percent support boycotts of sporting events against Israel, despite potential consequences for the national team.
Ireland refusing to play a senior men's international could result in far harsher penalties than just a technical defeat or a minor fine – the team could face harsh penalties, including a substantial fine or even outright disqualification from the competition. Disqualifying itself from the match could also potentially jeopardize Ireland's participation in the UEFA Euro 2028 tournament, which Ireland is set to co-host.
Despite calls for a boycott, the Irish Football Association decided months ago to proceed with the fixtures, staging its home match against Israel behind closed doors at a neutral venue in Bačka Topola, Serbia, on October 4.
In recent days, alternative forms of protest had been discussed, including players wearing black armbands, refusing to shake hands with the Israeli team or exchange flags, and donating match proceeds to the Palestinian cause. At that point, it appeared that the matches would go ahead.
Comments made last week by Ireland national team coach Heimir Hallgrimsson drew particular attention as he sought to offer a different perspective amid public anger over the decision.
During a press conference announcing his squad for the upcoming UEFA Nations League matches, he said that "we're not playing with genocide, we're playing against genocide," Hallgrimsson told reporters when asked about keeping his players focused. "We're playing against Israel, we're not playing with Israel."
However, a dramatic turn of events on Saturday threatened to derail the match against Israel. The pre-match press conference and final training session were postponed twice as the players remained at the Irish team's hotel in Debrecen.
Several players called on the Irish government and football association to intervene and make a decision, saying they had been left to bear unbearable pressure.
"There's a huge support – probably in Europe the biggest support – for Palestine in Ireland," Hallgrimsson said. "And there's been protests since the draw (in February) not to play this fixture. There's been a protest from day one not to play the fixture in Ireland and that's the pressure that the players will feel and the association will feel. I felt that pressure growing day by day and it's getting almost to a breaking limit now."
Eventually on Saturday, after four hours of internal discussions among the players and with association representatives, David Courell, the CEO of the Football Association of Ireland, said at a long-delayed press conference that an unnamed player's "discomfort with fulfilling this fixture" had caused deliberations for the rest of the squad. He said a vote was taken among the players and that "a significant majority" favored continuing with the games.
"Based on that, the association took the decision on behalf of Irish football that this fixture would continue as we have always intended to fulfill the fixtures," Courell said.
Later, 24-year-old reserve goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu confirmed on social media that he had left the squad. He said he felt it would be "wrong to participate" in the games "based purely upon my personal belief that the killing of innocent people is wrong."
Bazunu stressed his stance was "not in opposition to the Israeli people or the Jewish community but against the atrocities in the region. There are few times where you get a chance in life to stand up for something bigger and I strongly believe that this is one of them."
Coincidentally, Bazunu also lost his starting spot at Southampton to Israeli goalkeeper Daniel Peretz, who joined the club last year. Reports also indicated that between four and six other players joined the protest, plunging the national team's camp into chaos.
Israel's coach, Ran Ben-Shimon, said he hoped Ireland's staff and players would accept the Israeli players' handshakes. "We will put out our hands. If they don't want to shake it, fine," he said on Saturday.
It's hard not to sympathize with the Irish players, who found themselves in an impossible position. On the one hand, they want to play soccer and represent their country; on the other, they had to contend with relentless protests and pressure extending even to their families.
Tickets for Sunday's match were available to the public, raising the possibility that protest activists could travel to Hungary to disrupt the game or create a tense atmosphere.
Even if Sunday's game passes without incident, the controversy will not end there. The Irish team is set to return home to host Austria on Thursday, and is likely to face an unwelcome reception.
For the Thursday match, to prevent potential pitch invasions during Thursday's match, the Irish Football Association, acting on the advice of Dublin police, decided to clear the stadium's front rows, relocating ticket holders to other seats, including the VIP section.
An unprecedented security deployment is expected for Thursday's home match, amid planned protests by Irish fans against their own national team and its players. Under these circumstances, the players could find it difficult to focus on the game, while any incident could also affect the staging of Israel's return match against Ireland next week.
It is worth noting that Ireland played Qatar as recently as last May, despite extensive international scrutiny of the country's human rights record in recent years.
Irish fans appeared to have no objection to playing Qatar and even used the occasion to protest the matches against Israel. The game was also a friendly organized at the initiative of the Irish Football Association.
Courell himself publicly expressed support for Qatar at the time. Asked about the issue on Saturday, he cited changes in the country under its current emir, saying, "If you talk now about Qatar, it's changed. When you have an Emir like him that is now, a good man is now changing a lot of things in Qatar.
