Ireland announced to play in new stadium for the first time in huge World Cup qualifier clash

The Irish Sun

5 hours ago

THE venue has been announced for Ireland's World Cup qualifier clash with Portugal which has been scheduled for Saturday 11 October at 7:45pm.
The match is set to be played in the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon which is the home stadium of Sporting Clube de Portugal.
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A big campaign ahead for Ireland with World Cup in sights
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Katie McCabe flying the tricolour in the Estádio José Alvalade in May
There has already been Irish success there this year with women's captain Katie McCabe having won
Ireland have never played in Portugal's second biggest stadium before in any of their seven meetings with the side away from home.
The last two fixtures were placed in
Both stadiums only holding just over 30,000 seats, with the 2021 meeting having an attendance of just over 7,000 fans due to COVID restrictions.
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It has been 25 years since the Irish senior men's team played in the Portuguese capital in a 1-1 draw in Benfica's Estádio da Luz.
Matt Holland scored the equalising goal to win Ireland's only ever qualification point in Portugal.
Ireland have had a bit more luck against the Seleção on Irish soil, beating them twice in Lansdowne Road and once in Dalymount Park.
One of which was a 1-0 win in a European Championships qualifier under Jack Charlton in 1995.
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Both sides will be hoping to qualify for the 2026 World Cup but first they have the September fixtures to worry about.
Hallgrimsson's team will have to face Hungary and Armenia before travelling to Portugal. The Irish boss is
He said: 'Four points would be good, six would be better.
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'If we get a draw against Hungary and win in Armenia. Probably it would be worse if it was the opposite. Four points would be OK, a good start. Six is what we aim for.'
Ireland and Portugal were grouped together for the qualifiers of the last World Cup in 2022 along with Serbia, Luxembourg and Azerbaijan.
The sides faced off in their first qualifier in the Algarve with an inspired Ireland performance seeing them 1-0 up after 89 minutes.
An early Gavin Bazunu penalty save against Cristiano Ronaldo and a John Egan headed goal just before half-time wouldn't be enough for Stephen Kenny's men.
Ronaldo scored a last gasp brace to sink Ireland and break Ali Daei's world record for most goals in men's international football.
The second meeting would come in a sold-out Aviva Stadium despite Ireland's qualification chances being dead and buried after losses to Serbia and Luxembourg and a disappointing draw with Azerbaijan.
Neither team could get much of a foothold in the game with a physical Irish defensive performance managing to keep Ronaldo quiet as he was booed with every touch of the football.
An 81st minute Pepe red card was the only noteworthy moment of the fixture as Portugal left their World Cup fate drag on to the last day against Serbia.
The most recent meeting between the teams will be remembered less favourably by Irish fans as they lost 3-0 in a Euros warm-up friendly.
João Félix opened the scoring before Ronaldo netted another brace against Ireland to win 3-0 ahead of Portugal's Euros campaign.