The Republic of Ireland face Israel for the second time in a week in the 2026/27 Nations League tonight. Sunday evening's latest Group B3 fixture is technically a home game for Ireland, but is taking place not in Dublin but on neutral ground in the remote Serbian town of Backa Topola due to "operational reasons", with no fans in attendance.
Seven days on from 3-0 win
It is seven days on from their initial meeting in the Hungarian city of Debrecen, where the Boys in Green ran out comfortable 3-0 winners thanks to goals from Troy Parrott, Adam Idah and Jack Moylan.
Heimir Hallgrimsson's side ended up playing the match despite repeated calls to boycott it amid the ongoing war in Gaza and the 'Stop the Game' campaign organised by pressure group Irish Sport for Palestine. They held a player vote on the eve of the game during a four-hour summit at their team hotel that caused significant delays to both their pre-match press conference and final training session.
No handshakes and black armbands
However, the two sets of players and captains did not shake hands or exchange pennants ahead of the game and Ireland bowed their heads during the playing of the Israeli national anthem, also wearing black armbands - with Cardiff winger Moylan kissing his after scoring. Their actions led to an angry response from Israel captain Manor Solomon, the West Ham winger, who said that Israel was "10 times better" than Ireland in a furious outburst.
Hallgrimsson confirmed that his side would fulfil their second game against Israel too, having drawn 2-2 with Austria at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday in a game disrupted by protestors throwing tennis balls bearing Palestinian flags on to the pitch. A man carrying a Palestinian flag also ran on to the pitch and caused another delay. Bolton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu returned to the squad for that match, but will again withdraw and play no part against Israel, who drew 0-0 with Kosovo in Hungary on Thursday.
How to watch on TV and live stream
Coverage of the match in Ireland looks set to mirror last week, when RTE's stripped-back approach included no studio presentation, pundits, dedicated RTE commentator or half-time analysis, with the commentary taken instead from the international feed. Their broadcast began 10 minutes before kick-off at 7:35pm BST on RTE 2, which is again the case on Sunday.
A minimal technical team will again be deployed, with RTE not taking any advertising or sponsorship around either game. As with the first match, live coverage of the Republic of Ireland vs Israel is also available via Amazon Prime Video's pay-per-view service, at a cost of £2.49. That broadcast also begins at 7:35pm on Sunday night.
