Nathan Collins and Evan Ferguson are among the absentees, while the manager says he has spoken to every player individually about the two fixtures against Israel.
Heimir Hallgrimsson has named a 26-man Republic of Ireland squad for a Nations League window that takes in four matches, beginning away to Kosovo on Thursday.
Sheffield United defender Liam Kitching, on loan from Coventry City, receives his first senior call-up. Cardiff City left-back Joel Bagan and Hibernian forward Owen Elding are also uncapped, while Watford’s Rocco Vata returns for the first time since March 2025 after a long-term injury.
Nathan Collins misses out with a calf injury picked up on Brentford duty. Evan Ferguson, Josh Cullen, Jack Taylor and Oisin McEntee are also unavailable through injury. Seamus Coleman and Robbie Brady, both currently without clubs, are not included.
Hallgrimsson indicated he would still like Coleman involved, saying it remains his intention to have the Donegal man in the squad, ideally as a player.
Stoke City midfielder Bosun Lawal has been included despite being injured. The manager said the player is rated highly enough that the staff want him around the camp, and that Ireland are working with his club on how much he can do.
The Israel fixtures
Ireland face Israel twice in this window, away in Debrecen, Hungary, on 27 September and again on 4 October in Backa Topola, Serbia, a match due to be played behind closed doors. Both have been moved to neutral venues.
The fixtures have been the subject of sustained public debate in Ireland. FAI director of football John Martin said earlier in the week that responsibility for the decision to fulfil them rested with him and with chief executive David Courell.
Hallgrimsson confirmed he had spoken to each member of the squad one to one rather than raising the matter as a group, saying he did not regard a collective discussion as appropriate.
Asked about the players’ feelings, the manager said none of the group was comfortable playing the games, but that having decided to play them the squad would stay together and represent Ireland.
The window
Ireland travel to the Fadil Vokrri Stadium in Pristina on Thursday, kick-off 7.45pm, before the first Israel fixture three days later. They then host Austria at the Aviva Stadium on 1 October and meet Israel again on 4 October.
Austria away and Kosovo at home follow in November, completing the group. Ireland are competing in League B.
It is the side’s first competitive action since the World Cup qualifying campaign, in which they finished second in their group behind Portugal, having beaten the Portuguese 2-0 in Dublin and won away to Hungary.
Elsewhere, Jacob Devaney, Rory Finneran, Alex Murphy and Trent Kone-Doherty were named in Jim Crawford’s Ireland Under-21 squad, all four having been mentioned as possible additions to the senior group. Hallgrimsson appeared to confirm two of those selections during his own media briefing before the Under-21 squad was published.
A thinned-out defence
The absence of Collins is the most significant of the withdrawals. The Brentford centre-back has become the fulcrum of the Ireland defence and captained the side during the qualifying campaign.
His injury, combined with Coleman’s club situation, leaves Hallgrimsson choosing from Dara O’Shea, Jake O’Brien, Liam Scales, John Egan, James Abankwah, Jimmy Dunne, Kitching, Ryan Manning and Bagan.
In attack, Ferguson’s absence removes the squad’s most highly rated forward. Troy Parrott, Adam Idah, Chiedozie Ogbene, Tom Cannon, Jack Moylan, Elding and Vata are the options available.
Caoimhin Kelleher, Max O’Leary and Gavin Bazunu make up the goalkeeping group.
Hallgrimsson said the squad was in a positive position and that the intention was to maintain the momentum built during the closing months of the qualifying campaign.
