Pain of Prague will be laid bare by empty seats at ‘sold-out’ Ireland clash

International friendly: Republic of Ireland v North Macedonia, Tuesday, Aviva Stadium, 7.45pm – Live RTÉ 2

Only 802 days until Euro 2028 comes to the Aviva Stadium.

After the sugar rush of Prague, 10 more international matches in 2026 will test the rekindled interest in the Republic of Ireland men’s team.

It starts on Tuesday night against North Macedonia, a nation that visits on a comparably low ebb, having been trounced 4-0 by Denmark last Thursday in their own World Cup playoff semi-final.

There is plenty of misery to go round. And plenty of tickets are available for an occasion that sold out in minutes last year. That sellout was driven by hopes that a place at the World Cup would be on the line. Defeat in Prague last Thursday put paid to that.

The Ticketmaster resale website has hundreds of tickets ranging from €57.50 for the North Stand behind the goal to €150 for a premium seat.

Limping through three more friendlies in May and June will only serve to remind Irish football and its constituents of just how close they came to bridging a 24-year gap to their last appearance at a World Cup.

The FAI put together a schedule of warm-up games ahead of the hoped-for return to a major tournament. A fixture was arranged against Grenada in Murcia, Spain, on May 16th, before a Dublin date against Qatar on May 28th and then a match against World Cup co-hosts Canada, in Montreal, on June 6th.

The Canada match was planned with a view to being six days out from Ireland’s opening group game against South Korea in Guadalajara. Instead, it will become an irrelevant 90-minute countdown until the players jet off on holidays.

The pain of losing on penalties to the Czech Republic will get worse before it gets better.

As it stands, Ireland open their Nations League campaign in Kosovo on September 24th before facing Israel three days later at a location that has yet to be confirmed. The four-match window concludes with home games against Austria and Israel in early October.

Add two more fixtures in November, Austria away and Kosovo at home, before the Euro 2028 qualifier draw on December 6th. That should put enough distance between the disappointment of the Fortuna Arena last Thursday, when Finn Azaz and Alan Browne missed spots kicks in the shoot-out.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s team will almost certainly qualify for Euro 2028 as Uefa are holding two spots for the four co-hosts. England, Scotland and Wales look well equipped to progress without needing help from the governing body.

Hallgrímsson kept the media guessing about his line-up before training at a windswept Abbotstown on Monday. Liam Scales should return from suspension at left wing-back, ahead of Ryan Manning and the injured Robbie Brady.

Bosun Lawal is set for an overdue debut, ideally in midfield where Ireland remain chronically light despite Jayson Molumby’s fine display in Prague. Another uncapped player, Millenic Alli, is unlikely to feature.

Séamus Coleman has been a revelation since his recall last October, rolling back the years in the last five internationals. But at 37 and with Everton transitioning their club captain into a coach, this could be the last time he wears the green jersey.

If Coleman starts, the game will have a purpose. His second-half substitution or introduction would undoubtedly bring everybody who does show up to their feet to applaud one of Ireland’s true sporting heroes.

“For me, the most important thing is the performance that we show,” said Hallgrímsson. “That we continue to grow.”

“Obviously it’s been tough,” said Dara O’Shea, who has been outstanding for Ireland since the loss in Armenia last September. “What’s so special about this group is the togetherness and how everybody gets along.

“I think we’ve taken a lot of confidence in that we can easily feel sorry for ourselves and mope around and look at this game as a hindrance. But I think everybody is really delighted to get going again. We’ve spoken about what we have created as a group with the fans and we want to keep that going. That’s so special for us.

“The feeling of having a whole country behind you is magic and it’s something you can’t underestimate. We feel like we have that right now, so we want to keep going, we want to keep pushing on. We want to qualify for major tournaments.”

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