Shirt badge/Association crest
|
|
Nickname(s) | The Boys in Green |
---|---|
Association | Football Association of Ireland |
Confederation | UEFA |
Head coach | Derek O'Neill |
Asst coach | Stephen Finn Gleudson Junior Da Silva |
Home stadium | National Basketball Arena |
FIFA code | IRL |
FIFA ranking | Unranked |
First international | |
Republic of Ireland 4–1 Belgium (Rome, Italy; 16 July 1983) |
|
Biggest win | |
Republic of Ireland 7–2 England (Rome, Italy; 18 July 1983) |
|
Biggest defeat | |
Republic of Ireland 2–8 Finland (Jyväskylä, Finland; 14 December 2010) |
|
World Cup | |
Appearances | 0 |
UEFA Futsal Championship | |
Appearances | 0 |
The Republic of Ireland national futsal team has represented the Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Futsal Championship. The Republic of Ireland has, to date, never qualified for the final stages of a major tournament. It has, however, taken part in several invitational tournaments, such as the 2008 Four Nations Futsal Cup. It is organised by the Football Association of Ireland.
The Republic of Ireland national futsal team have been active since at least 1983. In July 1983, in Rome, they competed in a six team nations tournament. After defeating Belgium and losing to Czechoslovakia in the group stage, the Republic of Ireland defeated England 7–2 in a third/fourth place play-off. The other participants included Scotland and the eventual winners, Italy. In June 2001 they played a series of friendlies against Scotland and in February 2002 they hosted the Masita Cup tournament at St Columba's College, Dublin. Other participants in this tournament included Scotland, Northern Ireland and Tranmere Victoria, a club side that represented England. In October 2002 they also competed in the British Isles Nations Futsal Cup in Chester. The other participants in this competition included Tranmere Victoria, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar. During this latter tournament the team was managed by Derek O'Neill, the FAI's futsal co-ordinator, and coached by Stephen Finn.
In 2007 the national team was revived, initially playing as an U21 team and selecting players from the Eircom U21 Futsal League. In December 2007 a Republic of Ireland U21 squad featuring Dane Massey, Gary McCabe and Ciarán Kilduff travelled to Portugal and played two friendlies against Benfica and Sporting Lisbon. In April 2008 the Republic of Ireland U21s also competed in the UEFA Futsal Under-21 Championship, travelling to Andorra la Vella to compete in a qualifying tournament against Andorra, the Netherlands and Azerbaijan. The squad again included Dane Massey. In preparation for the tournament the team played a friendly against an FC Barcelona B team, defeating them 2–0. In the tournament itself, the Republic of Ireland defeated Azerbaijan 4–3 and finished third.