Kenny Cunningham Advocates for Ireland's Home Game Against Israel
Kenny Cunningham believes the Republic of Ireland should play their Nations League fixtures against Israel – and that one of them should have stayed in Dublin.
The former Ireland captain wants the games to go ahead as scheduled at neutral venues: Debrecen in Hungary on September 27th and behind closed doors in Bačka Topola, Serbia, on October 4th. What he cannot accept is the decision to move the “home” tie away from the Aviva Stadium.
“I think the games should go ahead, and I think the home game should have gone ahead in Dublin, that’s my opinion,” Cunningham said at the launch of Premier Sports’ 2026/27 coverage.
Aviva switch still rankles
The Football Association of Ireland cited “operational challenges that could impact on the delivery of the [Israel] game on home soil” when it moved the October 4th fixture to Bačka Topola, a town in northern Serbia. That decision followed the tennis ball protest at the Aviva during the friendly against Qatar in May, when supporters demonstrated over Ireland’s scheduled meetings with Israel.
For Cunningham, the relocation misses a moment.
“I think there is a perception about how Irish people feel about Israel and Israeli foreign policies, and the Palestinian issue,” he said. “That is pretty much out there already. We all know where people stand, so I don’t feel cancelling this game takes the argument any further.”
He wanted the symbolism of Israel walking out in Dublin, and of what followed.
“I think it would be a good thing to see the Israeli team come on to the pitch in the Aviva. I think it would be a good thing to see the Israeli national anthem respected inside the Aviva, because that for me would send a signal, maybe from the Irish people to the Israeli people who have suffered as well in this conflict.
“On a human level, we are actually together here. There are politicians making decisions around this, but genuinely between the Israeli people and the Irish people there is a bit of understanding there on a human level about what has been happening.
“We will respect your national anthem for those reasons. We’ll respect what you have been through on October 7th, the people you lost in harrowing circumstances, which precipitated the recent stage of the conflict.”
Israel has not staged an international at home since October 7th, 2023, when Hamas attacks killed 1,200 Israelis. Their “home” fixtures have largely been moved to Hungary. Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, with more than 1,300 Palestinians reported killed in Gaza since a ceasefire came into force last October.
Cunningham does not shy away from the scale or complexity of that backdrop, but he argues that Dublin closing its doors is the wrong response.
“I think the Irish public can show respect to the Israeli people, some of whom may actually agree to a certain extent with the opinions of Irish people,” he said. “Maybe some of the Israeli players are disgusted with their government and the conflict.
“It is messy, but I think the game should have gone ahead in Dublin. It’s a very complex thing. I read as much as everybody else, I read my paper and I try and educate myself as best I can. It’s not just about the last two years, it’s about the last 50 years.
“I’m not sure what the answer is to the conflict, but I don’t think us denying the Israelis a game in Dublin, or even cancelling the game, moves things any way forward in a positive way.”
Parrott, Ferguson and a tactical test
Once the politics and logistics are stripped away, there is still football to be played and a Nations League campaign to shape Ireland’s path towards Euro 2028.
On the pitch, Cunningham’s focus lands on Heimir Hallgrímsson’s system and two strikers who could define a generation. He wants Troy Parrott and Evan Ferguson on the grass together, not shuffled around a formation that blunts their strengths.
“I’m not a big fan of the narrow three up front, I think we can play with two central strikers, but then we never saw it in the summer so that was an opportunity missed,” he said.
The question hangs over the autumn.
“If Evan gets himself fit are we going to play him and Troy, our two best strikers of the generation, in a partnership or is one of them shifted left of a front three and how’s that going to work?”
Hallgrímsson names his Nations League squad on September 17th, ahead of the opener away to Kosovo on September 24th. The venues may be neutral and the stands partly empty, but the choices he makes – in Dublin, Debrecen and Bačka Topola – will say plenty about what kind of Ireland team emerges from this fraught, defining period.
