HEIMIR HALLGRIMSSON ADMITS he has little interest in style points once Ireland deliver three points at home to Armenia in their 2026 World Cup qualifier tomorrow night.
With only one point from their first three games, Ireland must win tomorrow night to prolong their interest into next month’s final double-header of matches. To do so, they must avenge the disastrous 2-1 loss in Yerevan last month.
“Result is the only thing that matters tomorrow”, said Hallgrimsson at his pre-match press conference. “However we do it, I would take a shitty game and win 1-0. This is a result game, 100%.”
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Though Ireland must take the game to their opponents and must therefore play in a very different way to the defensive stand they took in Lisbon on Saturday, Hallgrimsson says there are parts of the game to take into tomorrow night.
“We are all sharing the same feeling, we worked so hard to be in that position, to have a point against Portugal, it would have changed the mood to have a point. But we need to switch our focus to Armenia. Obviously everyone is down, but they are professionals and will switch their attention to the next task, they do that every day.
“I believe in this team, I think this team has everything to qualify for the World Cup. We are maybe not the favourites in the group tomorrow, but a win tomorrow would change that and I believe we are going to do that.
“Knowing this team is only one with collective work, whether it’s in attack or defence. Taking that from Portugal, how we beat Armenia is collective.
“We need to win the game and we cannot lose our focus in the beginning. We need to be smart, have game management throughout the game. The goal can come in the 91st minute like in Portugal, but keep on going: don’t go individual but stay collective in attack and in defence.”
Hallgrimsson has admitted Ireland are suffering from a trend in which their performance in the second game of an international window is worse from the first, and so has made changes to the players’ training regime to try and mitigate against fatigue. Festy Ebosele, Evan Ferguson, and Chiedozie Ogbene were all withdrawn earlier than usual away to Portugal, to keep them fresh for tomorrow night.
Josh Cullen is suspended for the game having been booked against Portugal, and he has been replaced in the squad by Charlton midfielder Conor Coventry. Liam Scales remains unavailable for personal reasons.
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'I would take a s****y game and win 1-0 - This is a result game'
HEIMIR HALLGRIMSSON ADMITS he has little interest in style points once Ireland deliver three points at home to Armenia in their 2026 World Cup qualifier tomorrow night.
With only one point from their first three games, Ireland must win tomorrow night to prolong their interest into next month’s final double-header of matches. To do so, they must avenge the disastrous 2-1 loss in Yerevan last month.
“Result is the only thing that matters tomorrow”, said Hallgrimsson at his pre-match press conference. “However we do it, I would take a shitty game and win 1-0. This is a result game, 100%.”
Though Ireland must take the game to their opponents and must therefore play in a very different way to the defensive stand they took in Lisbon on Saturday, Hallgrimsson says there are parts of the game to take into tomorrow night.
“We are all sharing the same feeling, we worked so hard to be in that position, to have a point against Portugal, it would have changed the mood to have a point. But we need to switch our focus to Armenia. Obviously everyone is down, but they are professionals and will switch their attention to the next task, they do that every day.
“I believe in this team, I think this team has everything to qualify for the World Cup. We are maybe not the favourites in the group tomorrow, but a win tomorrow would change that and I believe we are going to do that.
“Knowing this team is only one with collective work, whether it’s in attack or defence. Taking that from Portugal, how we beat Armenia is collective.
“We need to win the game and we cannot lose our focus in the beginning. We need to be smart, have game management throughout the game. The goal can come in the 91st minute like in Portugal, but keep on going: don’t go individual but stay collective in attack and in defence.”
Hallgrimsson has admitted Ireland are suffering from a trend in which their performance in the second game of an international window is worse from the first, and so has made changes to the players’ training regime to try and mitigate against fatigue. Festy Ebosele, Evan Ferguson, and Chiedozie Ogbene were all withdrawn earlier than usual away to Portugal, to keep them fresh for tomorrow night.
Josh Cullen is suspended for the game having been booked against Portugal, and he has been replaced in the squad by Charlton midfielder Conor Coventry. Liam Scales remains unavailable for personal reasons.
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Armenia Heimir Hallgrímsson must-win Republic Of Ireland