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If Ireland don’t beat Hungary tomorrow, then we won’t be going to the World Cup.
That’s according to former Ireland international Kevin Kilbane, who believes that the result of tomorrow’s opening World Cup qualifier at the Aviva Stadium could already determine the fate of Heimir Hallgrimsson’s Boys in Green. Kilbane told Dublin Live: “If I’m one of those players, I am so focused and so single minded on how I’m going to approach that Hungary match.
“Nothing else really matters off the back of it, because of the importance of that game. Heimir Hallgrimsson has said constantly that we’re going to be at the World Cup.
“If we are going to be at the World Cup, it comes down to that Hungary game. Because if we don’t win that, I don’t think we’ll be at the World Cup.
“It really is that important.” The 48-year-old believes Ireland need to be aiming to take all six points on offer in this September window – from Hungary at home, and Armenia away next Tuesday – to stand their best chance of booking their ticket to the USA for the 2026 showpiece.
He said: “I think that that game against Hungary is a must win game for us – because if we don’t win that game, taking the Armenia game out, I think then we’re under massive pressure then for the rest of the campaign. So I think that game is a must win game to start with.
“And we’ve not really played a huge opener like that for such a long time, it’s not seemed like it’s such a huge opener for such a long time. A lot of our recent qualifying campaigns have been done after two games or three games or whatever, mathematically not done but we’ve kind of been done within them.
“And I think that’s where it comes down to, looking at this Hungary game, it’s as big a game as we’ve had in my recent memory. This is right up there with them.
“You’re talking about a points total from the first two games, I would honestly have to say six, because looking at all the campaigns that we’ve had any success in, it always comes down to your first game and what you do in your first match. And I believe that this is such a huge game for us that we have to win it.”
Hallgrimsson toyed with the idea of two up top for Ireland in a 2-1 win at home to Bulgaria in March, with Evan Ferguson and Troy Parrott paired together up front. But the former Sunderland and Everton winger – who we chatted to prior to Parrott’s unfortunate knee injury – believes that an extra man in midfield will be more important, as Ireland look to neutralise Liverpool maestro Dominik Szoboszlai.
He said: “Ireland’s weakness, big weakness, I feel, in the last probably five to ten years has been our midfield. We’ve not been able to control games.
“We’ve not been able to really put even a mark on the game physically. We’ve not been able to compete, and we’ve lost a lot of games off the back of that.
“We’ve got a very good goalkeeper, we’ve got a strong defence, and up front now we’ve got a bit of creativity, as well as having a couple of goalscorers. Midfield is where we have a real weakness, so to have an extra body in there makes sense to me, to maybe help out the problems that we’re going to face when we’re coming up against top class teams.”
Kevin Kilbane was speaking on behalf of Casino.org, which helps players find their next online casino in Ireland.
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