Kenny Cunningham Advocates for Ireland vs Israel Match in Dublin

Kenny Cunningham believes the Republic of Ireland should play Israel in the Nations League – and that the home leg should never have left Dublin.

The former Ireland captain accepts the Football Association of Ireland’s decision has been made, but he made no attempt to hide his disappointment that the October 4th fixture will now be staged behind closed doors in Bačka Topola, Serbia, rather than at 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.

Dublin debate

The backdrop is raw and complicated.

In May, Irish supporters staged a tennis ball protest at the Aviva during a friendly against Qatar, an organised show of anger over Israel’s participation in international football amid the war in Gaza. When the FAI later moved the Israel Nations League tie out of Dublin, it pointed to “operational challenges that could impact on the delivery of the [Israel] game on home soil”.

Cunningham understands the strength of feeling in Ireland about Israel, its government and the Palestinian cause. He also feels the point has already been made.

“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.”

His argument cuts against the instinct to isolate Israel on the sporting stage. For him, the symbolism of Israel playing in Dublin, and being treated with basic respect, would have mattered.

“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,” he continued. “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.”

A conflict that won’t leave football alone

Football cannot escape the scale of what has happened.

Israel has not hosted an international match since October 7th, 2023, when Hamas attacks killed around 1,200 Israelis. Since then, Israel’s games have largely been played in Hungary. Israel’s offensive in Gaza 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 pretend to have the solution to a conflict that stretches back decades, but he is clear about what he feels Ireland should do on the pitch.

“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.”

Instead, Ireland will meet Israel at neutral venues: Debrecen in Hungary on September 27th, and Bačka Topola on October 4th, with the latter match to be played behind closed doors.

Parrott, Ferguson and a system under scrutiny

Once the politics fades into the background, the football questions remain.

For Cunningham, the Nations League is not just about results. It is the start of a road that runs directly towards Euro 2028, which Ireland will co-host. He wants to see Heimir Hallgrímsson use that time to build a team around the country’s two standout forwards, Troy Parrott and Evan Ferguson.

The Icelandic coach has leaned towards a 3-4-2-1 shape, with a narrow front three. Cunningham is unconvinced.

“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.

That is the crux of it for him. If Ferguson returns to full fitness, Ireland, in his view, cannot afford to shunt either him or Parrott into a wide role just to preserve a system on a whiteboard.

“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?”

Those are questions Hallgrímsson will have to answer quickly. He names his Nations League squad on September 17th, with Ireland opening away to Kosovo on September 24th.

The venues may be neutral and the stands empty when Israel arrive, but the choices Ireland make – in politics and in tactics – will echo well beyond this Nations League campaign.