Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson admitted nerves seemed to get the better of his team in the scrappy win over Armenia, but insists his team can improve with World Cup qualification hopes still alive.
Evan Ferguson's second-half goal was ultimately the difference between the sides at Aviva Stadium on a night where Dominik Szoboszlai’s late equaliser away to Portugal ensured the Boys in Green sit third in the table ahead of next month's double-header to bring the group stage to a conclusion.
With table toppers Portugal coming to Dublin looking to rubber-stamp automatic qualification, Hallgrimsson’s men may need a point to ensure the final outing in Budapest isn’t a dead rubber.
After an insipid opening 45 minutes where Armenia looked the more likely side to break the deadlock, Tigran Barseghyan’s moment of madness where he made contact with the face of Finn Azaz was crucial as Ireland ramped up the pressure with the numerical advantage. One goal was all the hosts had to show for their efforts, with the manager looking towards the glass half-full approach with two qualifiers to go.
"We should have finished the game off earlier than we did," he told RTÉ Sport. "It made it too nervy for us. When we came in, we said we wanted a good performance in Portugal and we wanted a win here.
"I said we would take a scrappy 1-0 and we got a scrappy 1-0. I want to take the positives. We can do better and we all know we can do better than today, but we kept the structure and kept the clean sheet and that doesn’t happen often for us."
The Icelandic was pressed for a reason behind such an underwhelming first-half display in the all-or-nothing contest.
"We were way too passive defensively and on the ball," he explained. "Maybe it was the nerves in a must-win game, but when they lost the player, it took the pressure off players and they got braver, making the runs in behind and created some really good chances.
"We felt we won’t get better moments to fix the goal difference with one player down and one goal up against a team like Armenia, but it didn’t happen for us. Sometimes it’s football and that happens."
Eyebrows were raised when Seamus Coleman and Festy Ebosele were called ashore shortly after the hour mark given their influence on proceedings. Without specifically explaining the Ebosele decision, the manager said the withdrawal of the former team captain Coleman was a tactical one as he was on a yellow card and was conscious of the match official looking to "even up the numbers" with Armenia down to 10.
Republic of Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson admits that he would have taken any kind of win over Armenia to keep his side's World Cup hopes alive, and he still believes they can get the results they need against Portugal and Hungary next month. pic.twitter.com/pGb1iZ3jDs
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) October 14, 2025
Next up (13 November) is the visit of a Portugal side that were minutes from confirming their place at next year’s World Cup. The champagne may be on ice for Ronaldo and co, yet Hallgrimsson remains optimistic that achieving a positive result – something that will be a necessity if Hungary leave Yerevan with all three points – is not beyond his charges.
"We showed to ourselves we can play against Portugal and keep them at bay, that’s a positive for us," he said. "The confidence comes from my belief in this group of players.
"We have found something to build on and become better and that is why I’m confident we can still do it."
