Ireland's women's Under-19 football team were forced to sing their national anthem a cappella before a European Championship qualifier in Bulgaria on Thursday after organisers mistakenly played 'God Save the King'.
The mix-up occurred ahead of their Group A5 opener against Sweden in Albena. As the players stood facing the Irish flag, the opening bars of Britain's anthem rang out instead of Amhrán na bhFiann. Shouts of disapproval followed before the music was abruptly cut off.
After 30 seconds of awkward silence, the Irish players, along with their coaches and fans, belted out an unaccompanied version of their anthem. A video of the moment was shared on social media with the caption: 'A monumental start to the European U19 qualifiers in Bulgaria. From that Anthem to No Anthem to We will do it ourselves so.'
Ireland ultimately fell to a 3-1 defeat against Sweden. Ella Lundin scored twice for the Swedes, with Katie Lawlee pulling one back for Ireland before Agnes Ekberg sealed the win late on.
Ireland will face Poland on Saturday in their next qualifying match, hoping the organisers are better prepared with the correct anthem.
