Soccer

Nations League: All you need to know ahead of Ireland’s away games against Finland and Greece

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s squad travel to Helsinki for Thursday night’s game before heading south to Athens for Sunday’s encounter with Greece

Nathan Collins reacts after the Republic of Ireland's 2-0 defeat against Greece at the Aviva Stadium on September 10th. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
Nathan Collins reacts after the Republic of Ireland's 2-0 defeat against Greece at the Aviva Stadium on September 10th. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
Muireann Duffy
Wed Oct 09 2024 - 18:08
What’s happening?

The Republic of Ireland play two games in the Uefa Nations League this week, continuing their campaign in Group 2 of League B.

When and where?

First up, Heimir Hallgrímsson’s squad travel to Helsinki to play Finland at the Olympic Stadium on Thursday (kick-off 7.45pm Irish time) before going to Athens to play Greece at the Karaiskakis Stadium, home to Olympiacos, on Sunday (kick-off 7.45pm Irish time).

Why do these games matter?

Why indeed. Well, the Nations League is linked to qualification for the European Championship finals, so a spot at Euro 2028 is theoretically up for grabs.

However, to earn that spot at our own party – we’re joint hosts of Euro 2028 remember – via this route we need to win League B, which would first involve us having to get out of our group.

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So far, we’ve suffered two losses from two games in the group stages (2-0 defeats against both England and Greece last month), so this ship seems unlikely to be turned around in time to give us our Euro summer.

But it’s not all about the Euros. Where we place also determines which tier of the league we’ll play in next time around. In League B, a top-place group finish sees the team promoted to League A, and second goes on to play the third-ranked teams from League A for a chance at promotion too.

The third-placed team in League B goes to the playoffs against the second finishers from League C, in which an aggregate loss would see them relegated to the lower tier, while the fourth-place League B finisher gets relegated straight down to League C.

And the award for the most confusing league structure goes to ...

Ireland will play Greece at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, the home ground of Olympiacos. Photograph: Adam Davy/PA Wire
Ireland will play Greece at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, the home ground of Olympiacos. Photograph: Adam Davy/PA Wire
How’s it looking for Ireland?

How do we put this kindly ... Things have looked better.

Two games in and Hallgrímsson is still looking for a result on which to hang his hat. Granted, facing England in his first game in charge was a difficult starting point, but Ireland’s performance against Greece also left a lot to be desired.

“The Republic of Ireland seem to have erased all memory of winning international football matches,” wrote Gavin Cummiskey in his report on the latter game.

But striking a more optimistic note, looking ahead to this week’s fixtures James McDermott writes: “Irish fans impatiently waiting for a first qualification since 2016 can console themselves that things could always be much worse. You could support Finland who took 82 years and 33 attempts before they finally qualified for their first, and only, major championship at Euro 2020.”

Talk about cold comforts.

How can I watch the games?

Ireland’s game against Finland (Thursday, kick-off 7.45pm Irish time) will be televised live on RTÉ2 with coverage from 7pm. The game against Greece (Sunday, kick-off 7.45pm Irish time) will also be televised live on RTÉ2, again with coverage from 7pm.

What are the conditions looking like?

Helsinki is set to be windy and cloudy on Thursday with temperatures of around 10 degrees, and Sunday evening is expected to be a clear and dry one in Athens, with temperatures in the region of 18 degrees.

Muireann Duffy

Muireann Duffy

Muireann Duffy is a sports journalist with The Irish Times