Football
When Was The Last Time England Played Ireland In A Competitive Football Match?
Cai is a news and features writer that specialises in football, but has experience covering a variety of other sports, including darts, basketball, American football, MMA, boxing and more. He holds a degree in Football Journalism (BA Hons) from the University of Derby, and worked with Nottingham Forest FC and Burton Albion FC throughout his studies. Cai also has experience working in social media with the Football Association of Wales, where he worked on a freelance basis, and has also been an accredited writer in the JD Cymru Premier for both Y Clwb Pêl-Droed and welshfootie since the 2019/20 season.
Get to know Cai Parry betterPublished03 Sep 2024
England and Ireland are scheduled to meet in the Nations League on Saturday evening, in what will be the first competitive meeting between the pair in more than 30 years.
The 2024/25 Nations League campaign gets underway this week, with England facing Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in one of the standout fixtures from a British and Irish perspective.
England and Ireland are separated by 54 positions in the FIFA World Rankings, with the English currently among the world’s best in fourth, while the Irish are down in 58th after failing to qualify for each of the last four major tournaments.
Of course, the Three Lions were at the most recent European Championship in Germany, in which they were beaten 2-1 by Spain in the final – their second successive Euro final defeat after losing on penalties to Italy in 2021.
Since then, Gareth Southgate announced that he’d be stepping down from his role as England manager, with under-21s head coach Lee Carsley being promoted in an interim capacity for the time being.
Ireland too are due to embark on a new era, having appointed Heimir Hallgrimsson as their new manager. The sight of the 57-year-old may spark some unpleasant memories for some England fans, as he coached Iceland to their memorable 2-1 upset win over the Three Lions at Euro 2016.
When Did England Last Play Ireland In A Competitive Match?
Euro 1992 Qualifying – England 1-1 Ireland (27 March, 1991)
After playing out a 1-1 stalemate at Lansdowne Road just four months prior, England welcomed Ireland to Wembley Stadium for a UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying clash, with both sides looking to claim top spot after enjoying unbeaten starts to the group.
The likes of David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Bryan Robson, Gary Lineker, and John Barnes all lined up among the English XI, while the likes of Paul McGrath, John Aldridge, and Kevin Sheedy, who scored against England at the 1990 World Cup, featured for Ireland.
England, managed by Graham Taylor, would deliver the first blow, with Arsenal right-back Dixon opening the scoring with his sole senior international goal after just 10 minutes of play. The English lead would last less than 20 minutes, however, with Niall Quinn drawing the Irish level after 29 minutes.
A goalless second period meant that, once again, the pair played out another 1-1 draw, following on from their stalemate in the reverse fixture in Dublin as well as their group stage draw at the 1990 World Cup.
At the end of the qualifying phase, it was England who secured qualification to the 1992 European Championship, narrowly pipping unbeaten Ireland to first place by just one point.
Have England And Ireland Faced Each Other Since?
Since their last competitive meeting, England and Ireland have faced off in four friendly matches.
Their 1995 meeting lasted a mere 27 minutes, and the result was declared void, as the match was abandoned due to the Lansdowne Road football riot. At the time of abandonment, Ireland led the match 1-0.
Meetings in 2013 and 2015 both ended level with 1-1 and 0-0 scorelines, and the most recent meeting between the pair ended 3-0 in favour of England in November 2020, with Harry Maguire, Jadon Sancho, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin grabbing the goals.