Ireland ready to boycott Israel game in dramatic U-turn

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FT Desk

Several Republic of Ireland players are considering boycotting the upcoming Nations League match against Israel, according to reports.

The two countries are scheduled to face each other in Group B3 of the UEFA competition on Sunday but since the draw was made, there has been tension surrounding the fixture.

Many Irish supporters hold a strong opposition to Israel's military actions in Palestine, in which over 70,000 Palestinians have been killed since the invasion of Gaza.

The Irish FA decided to go through with the scheduled fixture, which caused even more uproar. It is set to be played in neutral Hungarian territory. On 4 October, they will play each other again in the reverse fixture, in Serbia.

Ireland midfielder Jason Knight believes the game should not go ahead and confirmed that captain Dara O'Shea would lead a player meeting on Friday to discuss next steps.

"Look, it's difficult, the manager, and Dara, and Nathan [Collins] spoke well about it, I don't think the game should be going ahead but it is going ahead," Knight said following the Kosovo game in which Ireland lost 1-0.

"We'll have a deeper talk about it and what that means, we'll get our thoughts as a group and go from there.

"I think it was a difficult one. It's obviously big talk in Ireland. I have been focusing on my football in England in the Championship. But I knew this was coming so I had a think about it.

Uefa matchday delegate here in Debrecen currently unable to get in contact with Irish team/FAI. They are due to arrive for training at 11am local, 10am irish time https://t.co/fejrvCBeU8

— Gavin Cooney (@gcooney93) September 26, 2026

"We had chats about it with the players, and more senior players on what the step will be," added the Bristol City star.

"Now we're here, we can have a really in depth talk of what that means and what the consequences are. We'll do that [on Friday] and go from there.

"I am quite experienced. None of us have gone through this scenario before but I'd like to think I'm experienced, thick skin and can get through most things and that is what I will try and do.

"I'll try and focus on the football as much as I can. I'll give my view and my thoughts on when I see fit, but I'll be trying to focus on the football as much as possible."

It appears some players are now considering boycotting the game entirely.

On Saturday, the day before the game, the scheduled press conference involving Irish and Israeli media was postponed by two hours so that it takes place after Ireland's training.

Gavin Cooney of the Irish Times stated that a UEFA delegate had been unable to get in contact with the Ireland squad to find out what was going on.

Irish journalist Daniel McDonnell then posted on social media:

"Developments with Ireland: My understanding is that Gavin Bazunu has indicated that he doesn't want to play in the game - a view expressed in meeting last night. And there are other players now deliberating over coming with him. Training delayed."

The FAI are likely to face a fine from UEFA for the last-minute change to the media schedule which had been agreed with both nations in advance.

Israel's football governing body accused Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimmson of "ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity" regarding comments made last week when he said: "We're not playing with genocide, we're playing against genocide. We're playing against Israel, we're not playing with Israel."