The Ireland Israel match ended in a 3-0 victory for the Republic of Ireland in Hungary, but the game was marked by protests and political controversy before kick-off. Irish players did not shake hands with their Israeli opponents, while they bowed their heads during Israel’s national anthem.
The Nations League fixture had been under intense scrutiny since Ireland and Israel were drawn together in Group B3 in February. Calls for the Republic of Ireland to boycott the matches had grown in recent weeks because of the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.
Before Sunday’s game, Ireland captain Dara O’Shea and Israel captain Manor Solomon did not exchange a handshake or pennants. The Irish squad also wore black armbands, with Football Association of Ireland chief executive David Courell saying the gesture was in recognition of lives lost in the Gaza conflict.
Ireland Israel Match Goes Ahead After Squad Vote
The Ireland Israel match was in doubt on Saturday after the Republic of Ireland squad held a lengthy meeting at its hotel in Debrecen. Players eventually voted by a “significant majority” to fulfil the fixture, according to Courell.
Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu subsequently withdrew from the squad. He said he felt it “would be wrong to participate” in Sunday’s game and the return fixture against Israel in Backa Topola on 4 October.
Republic of Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said Bazunu’s decision had not been questioned by the team. He confirmed that the goalkeeper would return to the squad for Thursday’s match against Austria in Dublin but would not feature in the second meeting with Israel.
Hallgrimsson said the views of individual players had not influenced his team selection. “This team selection was about who we thought could make the best performance for Ireland,” he said.
Ireland Israel Match Brings Protest to the Pitch
Despite the controversy surrounding the fixture, Ireland produced a strong first-half performance to take control of the Ireland Israel match. Troy Parrott opened the scoring, Adam Idah added a second two minutes later and Jack Moylan completed the scoring in the 25th minute.
After scoring Ireland’s third goal, Moylan removed his black armband and kissed it before kissing the Republic of Ireland badge on his shirt. The gesture came as the Irish team maintained its position of avoiding the usual pre-match formalities.
Hallgrimsson said his players had helped draw international attention to the issue through their actions. “I hope that will not be in the next game because they have shown support to the protest, they have raised awareness worldwide, not only in Ireland, on the subject,” he told RTE.
He added that the players had demonstrated their position through what they did and said around the fixture.
Controversy Surrounds Ireland Israel Nations League Games
The Ireland Israel match followed months of pressure on the FAI to withdraw from the fixtures. A “Stop The Game” campaign organised by Irish Sport for Palestine had urged the Republic of Ireland team not to play, while more than 160 Irish athletes signed an open letter calling for a boycott earlier in the week.
The FAI had previously approved a motion calling for UEFA to suspend Israel from its competitions. In July, delegates backed a separate motion to proceed with the Nations League fixtures, with concerns raised that a boycott could cause “significant and lasting harm” to the association.
The home fixture was also moved from Dublin’s Aviva Stadium to Backa Topola in Serbia and is scheduled to be played behind closed doors. UEFA rejected a request from the Republic of Ireland to keep the two teams apart in future competition draws.
Tensions increased during the week when the Israel Football Association criticised Hallgrimsson over his earlier statement that Ireland was “not playing with genocide, we’re playing against genocide”. Hallgrimsson later said it was “a wrong word for me to use”, while Israel FA head of communications Shlomi Barzel said he would withdraw the word “stupidity” from his earlier response.
The wider dispute is linked to the war that followed Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages were taken. Israel subsequently launched a military offensive in Gaza, where more than 73,000 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
Israel has denied committing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, saying its military operations in Gaza are conducted in self-defence and in accordance with international law. The Ireland Israel match has therefore remained closely connected to the wider debate over the conflict and the role of sport in it