HEIMIR HALLGRIMSSON SAYS his job is to stick to the football in the wake of Ireland’s pairing with Israel in today’s 2025/26 Nations League draw. 

Ireland were drawn with Israel, Austria, and Kosovo in Group B3 just two months after the FAI became the first and only Uefa member association to formally request that Uefa ban Israel from their competitions, a request mandated by a motion passed at a preceding FAI EGM. 

Last October, Hallgrimsson called for Israel to be banned, pointing to the precedent of banning Russia. 

While the FAI issued a statement after the draw confirming they would fulfil the fixtures against Israel, president Paul Cooke and CEO David Courell did not speak to the media at the draw event in Brussels. Instead it was left to Hallgrimsson to field questions, and he chose to focus on football matters.

“That’s not my job”, he told the BBC in response to a question stating the “potential complications” will have to be dealt with. “My job is going to focus on the football side and I’m going to do that. We have a big game coming up against Czech Republic and that’s where our focus should be, and not going any further.” 

In a separate interview with Uefa, Hallgrimsson said, “Israel is a tough opponent. A lot of things outside football as well, when we play them, [we will be] trying to stick to the football side of it.” 

Hallgrimsson otherwise stated Ireland’s minimum ambition has to be to avoid relegation from League B: no side in Europe has remained in the Nations League second tier for as long as Ireland. 

“Kosovo, the lowest-ranked team in our group, has a really impressive record. We know Austria were one of the first teams to qualify directly for the World Cup in Europe, and then of course Israel is always a tough opponent.”

The games will take place across September, October and November. Uefa will confirm the fixtures on Friday morning, but the venues for games do not have to be confirmed until 120 days in advance of the relevant fixture.