'Could have been worse, could have been better' - Hallgrimsson on Ireland's draw

IRELAND BOSS Heimir Hallgrimsson has described his reaction as “neutral” after Ireland were paired with Denmark/Portugal, Hungary and Armenia in today’s World Cup draw.

The Icelandic boss is set to take charge of his first major qualifying campaign as Ireland manager, with all the qualifying matches taking place between September and November 2025 and the order of fixtures due to be confirmed this evening.

“Kind of neutral,” Hallgrimsson said when asked for his reaction. “Could have been worse, could have been better, so I think it’s a group that teams will take points from each other.

“So looking at it, I don’t think there will be a runaway winner which makes it more possible to qualify, so good for us.”

Halgrimsson was coy when asked about whether he would prefer to play Denmark and Portugal, with the winner of their Nations League playoff going into Ireland’s group.

“Both possession teams, creative players, really good on the ball. Portugal has better individuals so technically better individuals in Portugal but I think Denmark has a really good collective team.

“In Scandinavia, they are the best, in regards to technique etc, pressing.  So both good teams, a little bit different but play similar styles of football.”

Ireland won’t be overly confident following a mixed Nations League campaign that saw wins against Finland but defeats versus Greece and England.

They did beat Hungary under interim boss John O’Shea earlier this year in a pre-Euros friendly, while they have both won and lost to Armenia in the recent past when Stephen Kenny was manager.

“It’s probably a good thing to have lost against them,” the coach added. “They are seeded below us but I don’t think any of the players would underestimate this team.

“They have had really good results this year, been in all the games they have played, never more than a one-goal loss to whoever they have played. Tricky opponents. But if we are going to qualify, we need six points against Armenia.

“We’ve been working a lot, especially on the defensive organisation. If not for the second half against England, I would have said statistically it was improving a lot. The chances we conceded, the goals we avoided, the statistics were good until that second half.

“So I think we’ve taken good steps. But if we want to qualify, we need points against Denmark/Portugal, Hungary. It’s always easier to win points without conceding goals ourselves so we need to be spot on when it comes to those games in regards to the organisation — that is always the priority.”

Hallgrimsson also expressed satisfaction at being drawn in a four-team group and thereby avoiding having to play competitive fixtures during the inconvenient window in June when many of the squad’s Championship footballers have gone weeks without playing competitively.

“Now we know who we are playing, we can try to find [friendly] opponents in June who will be similar to the ones we are playing,” he said.

Hallgrimsson also paid tribute to Shamrock Rovers after their latest win against Borac last night amid an impressive Uefa Conference League campaign.

“They are doing good for Irish football, leading the way, and I think as well others will try to copy of what they are doing, in regards to their success.

“Good players, impressive performance yesterday, two or three really good performances, not going to count the names, it would put pressure on the players or me.

“But it is obviously good if they are playing well all season. Easier to pick them if they are playing regularly before the national team comes together, but I’m pretty sure a lot of teams in Europe are watching them, ‘who are these guys’ going this far this, doing this good in the tournament.

“So probably there is a lot of scouting on those players at the moment so hopefully they will get career change from this success.”