Heimir Hallgrímsson has named his first Ireland squad of 2025 on Thursday, ahead of next week's crucial Nations League playoffs.
Ireland will take on Bulgaria in a two-legged promotion/relegation playoff, hoping to preserve their place in Nations League B for 2026 and beyond. The first leg takes place on March 20th in Sofia, with the home tie on Sunday March 23rd in the Aviva Stadium.
On Thursday afternoon, Heimir Hallgrímsson named his squad for the playoffs. We'll keep you posted on all the biggest stories, who's in and who's out, and bring you the best of Hallgrímsson's press conference from FAI HQ.
We also have all the updates as Jim Crawford names his U21 squad for the friendlies against Scotland and Hungary.
Scroll below for our Ireland squad announcement liveblog.
The Ireland squad in full for the Bulgaria double-header:
- Goalkeepers: Caoimhín Kelleher, Gavin Bazunu, Mark Travers
- Defenders: Matt Doherty, Jake O'Brien, Nathan Collins, Dara O'Shea, James Abankwah, Jimmy Dunne, Robbie Brady, Callum O'Dowda
- Midfielders: Josh Cullen, Jason Knight, Will Smallbone, Jack Taylor, Finn Azaz, Mark Sykes
- Forwards: Troy Parrott, Evan Ferguson, Adam Idah, Sinclair Armstrong, Mikey Johnston, Rocco Vata
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Heimir Hallgrímsson names Ireland squad for Bulgaria playoff
Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson will be hoping this is the squad to deliver a big result in next week's playoff.
The Icelandic coach delivered two wins for Ireland in last year's Nations League, home and away against Finland, reinstilling a degree of positivity.
However, limp defeats to Greece and England mean Ireland nonetheless found themselves in a relegation playoff, and Bulgaria stand between them and maintaining their place in Nations League B.
Bulgaria sit 22 places behind Ireland in the world rankings in 82nd. The two countries most recently met in the Nations League in 2020, at the beginning of Stephen Kenny's reign. Both games finished in a draw.
It's a major test inbound for Hallgrímsson and his team.
Ireland travel to Sofia on February 20th for the first leg of their playoff against Bulgaria, with kick-off at 7:45pm Irish time. The return leg is at the same time on February 23rd in Dublin. Both games will be live on RTÉ 2.
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