Ireland’s desperate selection situation compounded by Ferguson injury

Ireland face Portugal and Hungary in November

Evan Ferguson was taken off after seven minutes in Roma’s match with Parma in Serie A,in what was his first start since October 2nd. 

Ferguson has struggled for game time at Roma, and is yet to score in his 10 appearances.

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Elsewhere, Matt Doherty was brought off after 17 minutes of Wolves’ 4-3 defeat by Chelsea in the Carabao Cup, adding to Heimir Halgrimsson’s selection woes.

Jayson Molumby and Ryan Manning, who both played minutes in the last set of World Cup Qualifiers, are both suspended for the Portugal clash on November 13.

Sammie Szmodics is recovering from surgery and will be unavailable, while Will Smallbone, Bosun Lawal and Jason Knight are also injured, alongside long-term absentee Robbie Brady.

The situation may give Halgrimsson the opportunity to call-up new faces; Johnny Kenny scoring twice for Celtic against Falkirk on Wednesday under new interim boss Martin O’Neill, while Derry boss Tiernan Lynch insists Michael Duffy should be considered for the squad.

Halgrimsson will announce his team next week for the final two qualifiers. Ireland host Portugal at the Aviva on November 13th, before a trip to Hungary on November 16th.

Ireland need a minor miracle to qualify for the World Cup 2026 play-offs. If Hungary beat Armenia on November 13, Ireland would need at least a draw against Portugal to take it to the final game, where they’d need a win over Hungary.

If Armenia beat Hungary, Ireland would likely still need a draw against Portugal and then win in Budapest.