Football commentator Kieran Burke looks ahead to Ireland v Israel in Serbia on Sunday in League B of the UEFA Nations League.
Ireland v Israel: Match Details
Fixture: Republic of Ireland v Israel
Competition: UEFA Nations League
Date: Sunday, October 4, 2026
Kick-off: 19:45
Venue: TSC Arena (Bačka Topola)
TV: RTÉ 2
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One week on from their contentious meeting in Debrecen, Ireland and Israel will face off again in the Nations League, with this latest encounter taking place behind closed doors in Serbia.
Ireland bossed the first clash by scoring three times inside the opening half hour to render the game a non-event. The Boys in Green looked set to build on that dominant display when leading Austria 2-0 in Dublin on Thursday with only twenty minutes left to play, but Heimir Hallgrímsson’s substitutions badly backfired as Ireland let two points slip away.
Troy Parrott the key man for Ireland
Troy Parrott opened the scoring in the fixture in Hungary before adding two more first-half strikes on Thursday. The Betis forward has now scored 9 of Ireland’s last 12 competitive goals. Parrott looked fatigued in the second half against Austria, leading to his replacement, but he will be the player everyone in Green is looking toward again on Sunday.
Despite the stats suggesting that Ireland are in danger of becoming a one-man team, Adam Idah’s recent performances alongside Parrott appear to have brought even more out of the Betis strike, while Jack Moylan has been a revelation since making his international debut with four goals and two assists in just five caps.
Ireland’s midfield remains a concern
It is in the centre of midfield where Ireland’s squad looks at its weakest. Conor Coventry has been a good find in that regard. Finn Azaz has really struggled in this window and may not feature against Israel, meaning it wil likely be Jason Molumby or Jason Knight who partner Coventry in the middle.
Another international rookie who has excelled in recent weeks is James Abankwah, but the Longford man will miss Sunday’s game through suspension.
Liam Scales’ replacement against Austria backfired badly as his replacement, Liam Kitching, made a dreadful error leading to Austria’s first goal, while the big number nine for Austria, Sasa Kalajdzic, ran riot in the second half having been kept quiet by Scales, Egan and O’Shea in the first half. However, Scales struggled massively during the defeat in Kosovo and has had a difficult start to the season with Celtic.
Can Israel cause Ireland problems?
Israel were dreadful in the first meeting a week ago, but they did force some saves from Caoimhin Kelleher as Ireland began to tire after a massive first-half effort. Ireland’s inability to see out a game is now a major concern after the events of Prague were repeated against Austria.
Israel put the drubbing against Ireland behind them to claim a point against Kosovo on Thursday, but Kosovo’s away form isn’t as impressive as their record in Pristina. The FIFA World rankings put Ireland over 20 places above Israel, and that looked to be an accurate assessment after last week’s game.
Team News
James Abankwah will miss Sunday’s clash through suspension after picking up a booking, while goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu has withdrawn from the Ireland squad for personal reasons.
Israel could also be without Anan Khalaili, who was forced off with an injury during Thursday’s draw with Kosovo.
Predicted Lineups
Ireland XI (predicted): Kelleher, O’Shea, Scales, Egan, O’Brien, Manning, Coventry, Molumby, Idah, Moylan, Parrott.
Israel XI (predicted): Tzur, Stoinov, Shlomo, Nachmias, Revivo, Khalaili, Peretz, Azoulay, Solomon, Turgeman, Gloukh.
Ireland vs Israel prediction
Ran Ben Shimon’s players have spoken a lot about putting things right against Ireland, but talk is cheap. Ireland’s players are likely to have taken a lot of encouragement from the level of support they received in Dublin on Thursday after a difficult few weeks.
The performances of Troy Parrott now has Ireland fans believing that for the first time since Robbie Keane’s retirement, they have a player they can bank on in front of goal. At the other end of the pitch, Caoimhin Kelleher continues to develop into a top-class goalkeeper.
While there is still work to do in the middle part of the pitch, the emergence of Jack Moylan has brought a sense of freshness to the current group and, between them, they should have enough to put Israel to the sword again, although it’s unlikely to be as comfortable as a week ago. Expect Israel to come out swinging both metaphorically and physically. It could be a tough night at the office for the man in the middle.
BEST BET: Ireland to win (11/10)
Ireland v Israel odds: 11/10 Ireland, 53/20 Israel, 47/20 the draw
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