The Israel national soccer team is set to face Ireland in a pair of home-and-away matches later this year, though the Dublin leg could be relocated amid security concerns, according to media reports from one of the most anti-Israel countries in Europe.
HaTkhulim-Levanim (The Skyblues and Whites) drew Ireland, Kosovo and Austria in Group B3 in Brussels on Thursday. League B is the second tier of the 2026–27 UEFA Nations League.
Irish-Israel tensions have eased somewhat since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza took effect in October, following two years of strained relations after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. However, Irish public opinion and policy remain broadly critical of Jerusalem and strongly sympathetic to the Palestinians, polls show.
The Irish Examiner daily reported on Friday that it is “increasingly likely” that Ireland’s Oct. 4 home game against Israel will be moved to a neutral country, as happened against Belgium in 2024. The paper said informal talks have already taken place between the Football Association of Ireland and the Garda Síochána national police and security service since the Group B3 draw.
Following the draw, the Football Association of Ireland quickly confirmed that the men’s national team “will fulfill” its scheduled matches against Israel, and president Paul Cooke later cited possible sanctions, including disqualification, as reasons not to boycott the Jewish state. In 2025, the Football Association of Ireland voted to ask UEFA to suspend the Israel Football Federation over alleged statute violations. The Football Association of Ireland submitted the request in November.
Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson said before the draw that he would respect any player’s decision not to face Israel, and in October he publicly called for Israel to be banned from international competition while adding he would play the match if drawn together, according to the Irish Examiner and RTÉ Sport.
Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin said on Friday the Football Association of Ireland had made the correct decision in confirming it will play Israel.
Israel leads the group on seeding, ranking in the mid‑20s in the Nations League hierarchy and sitting in Pot 1 of League B after being relegated from League A in the 2024–25 campaign, when it finished bottom of Group A2 behind France, Italy and Belgium. Its relegation followed a Nations League season that ran parallel to a separate World Cup qualifying campaign, in which defeat to Italy ultimately ended Israel’s hopes of reaching the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Israel opens its Nations League campaign on Sept. 24 away to Austria, then is due to host Ireland on Sept. 27—reportedly at a neutral venue—before hosting Kosovo on Oct. 1 and traveling to Ireland on Oct. 4 unless that match is moved to a neutral country. Israel then visits Kosovo on Nov. 14 and finishes by hosting Austria on Nov. 17.
Israel is currently ranked 77th in the FIFA men’s world rankings.
