Ireland will now face Hungary in Budapest on Sunday, November 16 in hopes of making the play-offs for World Cup 2026.

The atmosphere in Dublin's Aviva Stadium was positively electric last night, Thursday, November 13, after Ireland shocked Portugal with a 2-0 win.

Troy Parrott’s first-half brace secured a vital victory over Portugal and kept World Cup qualification hopes alive for the Boys in Green.

In the 62nd minute of the match, Portugal was reduced to ten men when star Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off. He was initially booked for an off-the-ball strike on Dara O’Shea, but following a VAR review, referee Glenn Nyberg upgraded the caution to a straight red card.

It was Ronaldo's first red card in his 226 appearances for Portugal.

Cristiano Ronaldo reaction to his red card vs Ireland
byu/977x insoccer

50,717 were in attendance at the Aviva on Thursday for the thrilling upset.

Ireland moves closer to the playoffs

Attention now turns to Sunday when Ireland plays Hungary - in Budapest - and Armenia plays Portugal to determine the final standings of their Group F in the UEFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

If Ireland beats Hungary on Sunday, and Portugal beats Armenia, Ireland will finish in second place of the four-team group and advance to the play-offs.

If Ireland wins and Portugal loses on Sunday, they will be split for first and second place by overall goal difference, then overall goals scored, and then head-to-head record, which favours Ireland.

In total, 16 UEFA nations will qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted in the US, Canada, and Mexico. The 12 group winners qualify directly for the World Cup; the four remaining berths are determined by play-offs involving the 12 group runners-up.

The 12 group runners-up will participate in the play-offs, along with the four best-ranked group winners of the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League that did not finish their European Qualifiers group stage in first or second place.

The 16 teams who enter the play-offs will be drawn into four play-off paths, with four teams in each. Play-off matches will be played in single-leg semi-finals, followed by single-leg finals within the same international window in March 2026.

"We need to win"

When asked how Ireland will maintain the momentum heading into the rest of the campaign, Head Coach Heimir Hallgrímsson said on Thursday night: "Now it's the most important, we just have to switch focus to Hungary. 

"There's a lot of tired legs. I hope the win will help us recover quickly, but now it's just about trying to gain as much energy back for this important game in Hungary."

He continued: "After the Armenia loss, if somebody would have asked us if we wanted to take a win in Hungary as the last game and we still have a chance to qualify for the next round, we always would have taken it. 

"This is something that we've wanted, and we have it now. It's a cup final for us in Hungary and we need to win."