Ireland legend ‘not as confident as Heimir Hallgrimsson' about World Cup chances but admits ‘I like his attitude'
KEVIN KILBANE admitted he is "not as confident as Heimir Hallgrimsson" when it comes to Ireland's chances of qualifying for the World Cup.
The Boys in Green get their qualification campaign underway at home to
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2
Heimir Hallgrimsson has been bullish about Ireland's chances of qualifying for the World Cup
Credit: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
2
Kevin Kilbane revealed why he is not as confident
Credit: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
That will be followed by fixtures
home and away
against
And while the Icelander has been
next
year.
He told SunSport
via
:
: "I'm not as confident as Heimir Halgrimsson and that's simply because of what's happened in the last couple of years.
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"We're all a little bit probably tarnished from what's happened during the last five or six
campaigns
. You can't get away from that."
They missed out on a place at
Ireland won just two of eight games in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in
Qatar
.
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Kenny's men won the same number of games in the
And Kilbane added: "We all support the team and we all want the best for them but we're all realistic with what we've been watching and we've seen leads slip against sides that we shouldn't be letting leads slip against.
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"We've not been putting in good performance against sides that we should have been putting better performances in, particularly at home."
While the 48-year-old is skeptical that Ireland can get to the 2026 World Cup, he admires Hallgrimsson's outlook nonetheless.
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He was co-coach of
Since succeeding
summer
, Ireland have won exactly half of Hallgrimsson's eight games in charge.
There is a renewed optimism after their two-legged win over Bulgaria in the
Automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup goes to the side that finishes top of the four team group.
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Meanwhile,
the 12 runners-up and the four best-ranked group winners from the Nations League outside those top two positions
will go into the play-offs
next
March.
Former
star
Kilbane continued: "I like what he's been saying and I like that he's got a clear message and I think it's internal as well as external.
"If you don't have that attitude, you're not going to qualify.
"I like what he's done and I honestly think that the shortened qualification will help us because qualification for us is probably going to be over by March next year.
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"We want to be playing in those big games and I think that every window coming in, now that we know we've got to start well, if we start well and hopefully we do that, the next window is ramped up again.
"We could be done after two windows, we know that, but equally, if we get it right in that first window, we've got a chance and we have to believe that.
"I do think that there is a chance. but I, like everybody else, every other Irish supporter, is scarred by what's happened recently in the last so many
campaigns
."
GAME TIME
The club campaign has been a mixed one for Irish players.
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Jake
O'Brien had a breakthrough 2025 with Everton.
Meanwhile, strikers
On the flipside, however,
Meanwhile,
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In all, 19 Irish players clocked up 18,445 minutes of
football
in
Europe
's top five leagues, an average of 972 per player, equating to fewer than 11 full matches.
That statistic is likely to be inflated in 2025/26 by
And game time at the highest level is Kevin Kilbane's biggest concern.
He said: "The nucleus of our side is lower half Premier League/top half Championship and that's where we are.
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"I think the most important thing for our players is game time and that's the only thing that every single player wants.
"We're in this boat where our players are not playing regular enough at the top level and that's where we are but the ones that we have, we've got to build our side around those players.
"We've got enough quality and I know that we've got enough quality but it's about game time for them all."
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