“This is Armenia…. this is… Armenia.”
RTE commenator Darragh Maloney echoed the words of an entire nation in the closing stages of Republic of Ireland’s disastrous 2-1 defeat by Armenia on Tuesday night.
Ireland’s hopes of reaching the 2026 World Cup are in complete tatters after an abysmal performance Yerevan, leaving them with one point from two games, and Portugal up next.
For some it was a case of déjà vu, and left many debating whether this was indeed the worst result in the national team’s history.
Who will be next Ireland manager? 18+, BeGambleAware
Certainly in recent decades, the 1-0 defeat by Luxembourg in 2021 comes close, as does the 5-2 defeat in Cyprus in 2006. But given Luxembourg were ranked 96th at the time, and Armenia are currently ranked 105th, 55 places below Ireland (but not for long), Tuesday’s defeat arguably tops the lot.
It’s only the third time in history that Ireland have been beaten by a side outside the top 90 in the world rankings.
It might pain you to click one of the options below, but let us know your thoughts, and if our suspicions are correct and the nation believes this is the lowest ebb, we’ll know the only way is up from here…
We’re also asking you whether Heimir Hallgrímsson should be sacked now with four games of qualifying to go. In his post-match press conference, he was asked whether Ireland’s World Cup hopes were in the bin, and he replied: “Yeah, close to that. Everything needs to be perfect from now on.”
So, we’re asking you, is it worth keeping him until the end of the campaign, or get someone else in to work with these players before the next campaign?
The names to replace Heimir, whose contract is up at the end of World Cup Qualifying, is currently pretty long. The likes of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Lee Carsley, Damien Duff and Stephen Bradley are being tipped.
Give us your thoughts below on who the next permanent boss should be as Ireland prepare for Euro 2028…
