Irish soccer team refuses handshakes, bows heads during Israeli anthem, wins the match 3-0

All of Ireland’s national soccer team bowed their heads as Israel’s anthem was played ahead of their UEFA Nations League match on Monday, and players refused to shake hands or exchange pennants, with Ireland beating Israel 3-0 at the near-empty Debrecen stadium in Hungary.

Israel’s delegation explained earlier in the day that the Irish team had informed UEFA authorities that its members would not shake hands with their Israeli opponents, and that UEFA accepted this.

Irish captain Dara O’Shea approached the center of the field for the pre-match talk with his hands still firmly clasped behind his back. O’Shea shook hands with the referee and his assistants, but there was no attempt to shake the hand of Israel captain Manor Solomon.

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The Irish players wore black armbands, as promised, in what their delegation claimed was a mark of respect for “all lives lost” in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

The game, in which Israel were the nominal hosts, had been in doubt earlier in the week until Ireland’s players voted overwhelmingly to fulfill the fixture, despite pressure from back home to boycott the match.

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Only one player, backup goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, pulled out, saying “it would be wrong to participate” in either this match or the return fixture in Serbia on October 4, “based purely upon my personal belief that the killing of innocent people is wrong.”

The Irish federation did not reserve any tickets for fans to attend the match, and public broadcaster RTÉ featured no studio panel and no analysis, and didn’t sell any advertising around its coverage.

The game unfolded in a subdued atmosphere reminiscent of the latter stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when attendance restrictions left stadiums largely empty.

There were a few hundred Israeli supporters and a handful of Irish fans in the ground, and the shouts of coaches and players could be clearly heard throughout.

The small group of Israeli fans in the stadium were seen waving flags and sporting scarves in the colors of the national team and their favored local teams. One fan could be seen holding the Druze flag.

Striker Troy Parrott netted the opener in the 14th minute, with Adam Idah scoring two minutes later and Jack Moylan adding a well-taken third in the 25th minute.

Ireland needed goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher at his best to deny Israel after the break, and tempers became frayed around the hour mark after a clash between Idah and Raz Shlomo. Both players were booked by German referee Harm Osmers.

At the final whistle, the Irish players maintained their refusal to interact in a civil fashion with the Israelis, with no handshakes at the end of play.

After the match, Israel’s goalkeeper Daniel Peretz apologized “on behalf of all the players” for the team’s “embarrassing” performance, vowing that it would do better in their next two UEFA Nations League games, against Kosovo on Thursday and Ireland again next Sunday.

“It’s not that we didn’t want to play better or did not prepare,” he told Channel 5 Sports. Rather, “we wanted to win too much. We came to this match with a lot of emotions and this harmed us. We lost some of our concentration.”

Asked what it was like to watch the Irish players bow their heads during the national anthem and eschew handshakes, with the Irish coach turning his back to the field, Peretz said “it all stems from ignorance.” He indicated that some of the Irish players did want to understand the situation Israel is in, but overall, “they expressed a view without understanding the situation. That’s on them; they are grown-ups.”

Captain Manor Solomon said he “can’t wait” for the return fixture, so that Israel could show how well it is capable of playing.

Solomon said some of the Irish players said unpleasant things to their Israeli opponents during the game. “I don’t want to talk about [the Irish players]. If I say what I think of them, I’d likely be suspended for a few matches… Obviously they hate us. We don’t like them.”

“I’m waiting for the next game against them. It’ll be a completely different game entirely.”

As for the Irish players bowing their heads during Israel’s anthem, he said: “They don’t interest me. We have a country ten times better than theirs, stronger, an amazing country with amazing people. We are proud to wear the team shirt and to be Israelis. We are proud of our state and of our soldiers. [The Irish] can play all their tricks. We are Israelis and love the country. And that will always be the case.”

Team coach Ran Ben Shimon apologized for the team’s “shameful” showing in the first 30 minutes. “Huge disappointment,” he said.

“The blame is on me,” he stressed, rather than the players. “I thought we had prepared properly. We hadn’t.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accused Ireland before the match of being “on the wrong side of history” over the players’ actions.

In a lengthy post on X, Sa’ar referenced the Irish team of 1939 giving the Nazi salute ahead of a match against Germany in Bremen.

He also referred to Irish neutrality during World War II and the condolences offered by then-prime minister Eaemon de Valera to the German representative in Dublin following Adolf Hitler’s death.

“Almost 90 years have passed. Ireland’s unique talent for finding itself on the wrong side of history remains intact,” he added.

“Sports, soccer, basketball, everything is for the public, the people, and not for politics,” 31-year-old software development teacher Mol Michael, draped in an Israeli scarf, told AFP. “Once you decide, because of politics, to cancel the Irish audience, this is a really stupid move from Ireland, in my opinion.”

Ireland has long been a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, with sympathy often linked to the country’s own history of British rule.

Dublin formally recognized a Palestinian state in 2024 alongside Spain and Norway, and has repeatedly criticized Israel over the Gaza conflict.

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