2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers: Republic of Ireland vs Armenia

Republic of Ireland host Armenia in a crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier. 

Should Hungary lose to Portugal, victory would see Ireland or Armenia climb to second in UEFA Group F.

 

Team News

Josh Cullen is suspended for Ireland after he picked up his second yellow card in their 1-0 loss away to Portugal, and has been replaced by Conor Coventry.

Festy Ebosele is a doubt after he suffered an unspecified injury during that game, which saw him substituted in the 64th minute.

Liam Scales was set to return after he missed the trip to Portugal for personal reasons, but has now withdrawn from this fixture too.

Armenia have no fresh injury or suspension concerns to report following their 2-0 loss to Hungary on Saturday.

 

When is Kick-Off?

Ireland host Armenia on Tuesday 14 October at Aviva Stadium, Dublin, in a 7:45pm BST kick-off, live on Amazon in the UK.

 

Stat Attack

• Ireland lost their only previous World Cup qualifier against Armenia by a 2-1 away result in September 2025.
• Armenia are playing away to Ireland in a World Cup qualifier for the first time, but lost their two previous visits in all competitions (L2).
• Ireland are yet to keep a clean sheet at home against Armenia in all competitions.
• Evan Ferguson and Adam Idah have both scored in two of Ireland’s last three home matches in all competitions, which saw the Irish beat Bulgaria 2-1 in March then drew 2-2 against Hungary in September.
• Armenia have scored two goals and conceded eight goals in their three qualifiers so far in this group.

 

Prediction

Having produced a resilient display away to Portugal despite their late heartbreak, Ireland now need to take confidence from that display and bring a clinical touch because if they lose this then any hope of a play-off spot will look extremely unlikely.

Armenia meanwhile will need a win to keep touch with Hungary in the battle for that play-off qualification spot if the Hungarians were to stun Portugal, but they need to be more clinical than they were away to Hungary on Saturday.

Nevertheless this clash does feel do-or-die for both teams and if Ireland can produce another defensive display but with a clinical touch, I fancy them to nick this against a leaky Armenia defence.

Prediction: ROI 1-0 Armenia

Result: ROI 1-0 Armenia