Ireland beat Israel in Debrecen amid pre-match controversy

Ireland beat Israel in Debrecen, Hungary on Saturday night in a match that had been overshadowed by debate over Irish support for the people of Gaza.

The fixture had been the focus of a week-long dispute about whether the Irish squad should play at all and whether players’ minds would be on the game; after internal discussions the team selected to play produced a decisive performance in the first half. Heimir Hallgrimsson said: “It’s probably been the toughest days of my coaching career,” and added that the episode was “not about me. It’s about the players and they’ve shown today how much playing for Ireland means to them.”

The atmosphere in Debrecen was sparse and tense, with almost-empty stands producing an unusually audible stadium and a feeling compared by the report to matches held during Covid. As the nominal home side, Israel had been allowed a small delegation of fans, about 150, while roughly a dozen Irish supporters gained entry despite the FAI’s decision not to bring an away allocation and were clustered in a stairway.

Pre-match rituals were notably subdued: Irish staff turned away from the pitch during the national anthem, Ireland’s players wore black armbands and looked at the ground during Israel’s anthem, and there were no exchanges of pennants or handshakes as both squads retreated quickly into huddles. The game had nearly been abandoned after goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu made himself unavailable, prompting emotional exchanges inside the squad and management; Hallgrimsson named defender Jimmy Dunne as a nominal third goalkeeper and left key forward Finn Azaz on the bench as one of five changes from the team that lost to Kosovo. Azaz’s mother has Israeli citizenship and he was reported to have made an impassioned contribution to Saturday’s discussion.

Ireland settled the contest inside 11 first-half minutes. Troy Parrott opened the scoring in the 14th minute, turning home a low shot through the body of Daniel Peretz after wing-back James Abankwah’s work on the right. Two minutes later Adam Idah ran on the shoulder of the last defender to collect a through ball from Jack Moylan and finished inside Peretz’s left-hand post. Moylan then scored in the 25th minute, driving 25 yards into the box before shooting low into the net; it was his fourth goal in as many caps and he removed his black armband and kissed it in celebration.

Israel improved after the interval, with substitute Dor Peretz forcing an excellent save from Caoimhín Kelleher, but the match descended into a series of scuffles late on. Israeli supporters appeared to be chanting for the IDF as the final whistle blew, and Israeli media asked manager Ran Ben Shimon if he would resign after the defeat; he replied no, saying: “We didn’t handle the pressure well that is obvious, we failed mentally, we failed tactically.”

Ben Shimon added a forward-looking remark about the schedule, saying: “But in a few days there is another game we will have to find the energy to rise again.”