A 2026 World Cup qualifying draw offering a hint of festive optimism has given Heimir Hallgrímsson the chance to move on from his ‘traumatisation’ of Wembley.
Four weeks after the embarrassment of England’s 5-0 win, the Republic of Ireland manager winced on Friday when asked might his players be able to recover, something not always easy for Irish teams after a licking.
‘It all happened so quickly that it was traumatising standing there, wanting to disappear into the grass in Wembley.
‘All of a sudden, you’re two-zero down, then three-zero down. You don’t know what’s happening. I hope it’s an outlier in our games. Until I’m proven wrong, it’s a one-off thing,’ he said.
The element of ‘trauma’ surfaced in a draw which sees either Portugal or Denmark, Hungary and Armenia stand between Ireland and a shot at reaching North America.
The four-team group won’t get under way until September 6, at home to Hungary, but the either-or aspect will be resolved depending on the outcome of the Nations League quarter-final in March between the Portuguese and the Danes.
Both opponents have delivered painful World Cup blows to Ireland in recent qualifications.
Seven years ago, the Danes hit Ireland for five in a play-off for the finals, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s late, late double, sank a doughty Ireland in Faro in the 2022 qualifiers.
‘Talk about traumatising,’ said Hallgrímsson. ‘Talk about losing to Portugal two goals late in the match, the Denmark game (5-1). Let’s just try to work on the trauma and go from there.’
Sifting for pointers, Hallgrímsson noted Ireland’s 2-1 home win over Hungary under then interim boss John O’Shea prior to this summer’s Euro finals.
‘That would be a medicine against the trauma to know we have beaten them,’ he said.
‘Psychologically, it’s good to have played them and good to have won against them. It’s a good team, good creative players like (Dominik) Szoboszlai, but not unbeatable.’
As another positive, when Ireland first qualified for the World Cup, in 1990, they took four points out of six from Hungary, which was crucial to finishing second to Spain in the group.
As for Armenia, their 1-0 win over Ireland in June 2022 in the Nations League was a low watermark for Stephen Kenny, a result Hallgrímsson cannot afford to repeat.
Whereas Kenny was guarded about games labelled must-win, preferring to talk instead of Ireland’s ‘ambition’ against the weaker nations, Hallgrímsson called it as it is against the team ranked 100th in the world.
‘If we are going to qualify, we need six points against Armenia,’ he said.
On balance, the draw is decent. Hallgrímsson was desperate to avoid the likes of England and Germany, noting how they tend to breeze through qualifications ‘pretty smoothly with a 100 percent record’.
For what it’s worth, Portugal did the same in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, notching ten wins out of ten under Roberto Martinez.
They are the top seeds and will be expected to top Group F, led by a 40-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, should they beat Denmark first.
There is more to Portugal than ‘CR7’, of course, as they can call on Premier League A-listers as Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Jota, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, Pedro Neto and Joao Felix, among others.
Hallgrímsson has stood firm against Portugal before, at the finals of Euro 2016, where unheralded Iceland battled to a 1-1 draw in St Etienne, after which the thunderclap echoed across the Massif Central.
Ronaldo was 31 then, at his peak. Now, he’s not the player he was and Hallgrímsson reckons that may be to Ireland’s advantage as Portugal have had to adapt a little with Ronaldo still in the team.
Even so, it will require a monumental effort if Ireland are to rattle the gilded cage of the Iberian aces, should they see off the Danes.
‘If you want to qualify, you need to get points against these teams that are seeded above us and be competitive against them.
‘You cannot concede a lot of goals against these best teams so, you need to prepare.
‘I hope we will have taken these steps. I think we have been taking these steps to be more organised, to be ready to play these games,’ he said.
In terms of ranking, Portugal would carry a greater threat but Hallgrímsson has a lot of respect for Denmark.
‘Portugal has better individuals so they are technically better but I think Denmark has a really good collective team.
‘In Scandinavia, they are the best with regard to pressing etc. Both are good teams, a little bit different but play similar styles of football.’ The ridiculously long run-in means a free window in June where Ireland will play at least two games, one of which will be in Dublin.
‘We definitely will have games in June. We need to play one game at home, for the season-ticket holders. That’s starting now, to find opponents to play us here.
‘Then, it’s about the timing. If we play a game for the guys who finish their Championship season early, and then a game for the Premier League players.
As it stands, Hallgrímsson is not aware of any imminent retirement and still values the contribution of captain Séamus Coleman, who will be almost 37 when the World Cup comes around.
‘We haven’t discussed that (retirement). His contract is for this season. Whatever happens at his club, we will see. I plan with him, but we also prepare with other players in this position.’
The road to North America beckons, just as it did in 1994, when Ireland chinned Denmark in the qualifiers and then stood tall in the land of the Giants Stadium against Italy.
Might it happen again? ‘I’m not going to tell you to book flights to USA but (maybe) start looking. We will be ready when it comes to September,’ he promised.