# World Cup

All time

# director

'There's no overnight fix for this. We've got to make the game attractive'

IRFU director of women’s and 7s rugby Anthony Eddy spoke to the media yesterday.

10.4k

Nov 9th 2021, 6:45 AM

# Dropped

No place for Connolly in Ireland squad as Portugal gear up for Dublin date

Stephen Kenny can call on captain Seamus Coleman, as well as midfielders Jayson Molumby and Alan Browne, as Ronaldo prepares to come to town.

23.9k

Updated

Nov 4th 2021, 1:29 PM

# success

'A huge moment' - Ireland secure World Cup spot after beating Wales

Anna O’Flanagan was the hero on the day.

40.2k

Oct 24th 2021, 9:16 PM

# into the lionesses' den

Northern Ireland women ready for ‘special’ night at Wembley

Captain Marissa Callaghan will lead her side out at England’s national stadium.

1.9k

Oct 22nd 2021, 8:11 PM

# Moral Victory

'It might have been a World Cup quarter-final but we were prepared to go on strike'

This weekend 30 years ago, Ireland’s rugby players considered strike action before their World Cup quarter-final. Instead they nearly caused a sensational upset.

33.4k

Oct 17th 2021, 8:00 AM

# Goal Hero

Lyndon Dykes rescues Scotland with late winner to put play-off spot in sight

Steve Clarke’s side won 1-0 away to the Faroe Islands and now need a win against Moldova.

5.6k

Oct 12th 2021, 10:10 PM

# losing out

Northern Ireland suffer second-half collapse to lose in Bulgaria

Conor Washington had given the visitors a half-time lead.

6.9k

Oct 12th 2021, 10:03 PM

# Qualifiers

Hat-trick for Ronaldo as Portugal hammer Luxembourg and Serbia defeat Azerbaijan

A 5-0 win for Portugal tonight.

8.6k

Oct 12th 2021, 9:54 PM

# unbeaten

Messi's Argentina thrash Uruguay, Brazil lose 100% qualifying record

Lionel Scaloni’s side closed the gap on Brazil at the top of the table.

9.7k

Oct 11th 2021, 7:52 AM

# samba boys

World Cup in 2022 'will be my last' says Neymar

‘ I don’t know if I will still have the mental strength to put up with even more football.’

9.6k

Oct 10th 2021, 8:58 PM

# low point

IRFU must be brutally self-critical as review into World Cup failure begins

The union must work hard to harness the potential of the domestic game in order to better prepare players.

4.7k

Sep 27th 2021, 3:58 PM

# Qualifier

A huge day for Irish women's rugby as Ireland aim for World Cup spot

Adam Griggs’ side face Scotland in Italy at 5pm.

4.6k

Sep 25th 2021, 6:00 AM

# continuity

Ireland unchanged for pivotal World Cup Qualifier against Scotland

There is one alteration to the bench as Lucy Mulhall comes in for the injured Enya Breen.

2.2k

Sep 24th 2021, 11:58 AM

# Midfield

Criminology student Higgins solving the challenges of playing 13

The 22-year-old impressed for Ireland against Italy last weekend.

3.7k

Sep 23rd 2021, 7:30 AM

# Irish Abroad

'It has been nice to live and breathe rugby to the extent I can'

Edel McMahon has pushed her game forward with Wasps over in England.

3.9k

Sep 22nd 2021, 7:30 AM

# Political Football

Fifa to discuss plans for biennial World Cups at associations summit next week

The world governing body is in favour of shortening the gap between its showpiece event from four to two years.

9.5k

Sep 20th 2021, 10:00 AM

# 10

Stacey Flood settling into key out-half role with Ireland Women

The 25-year-old has shown her quality over the course of five caps so far.

4.2k

Sep 18th 2021, 6:00 AM

# Wrap

Northern Ireland off to bright start in World Cup qualifiers, England win 8-0 but new boss expected more

Kenny Shiels side were 4-0 winners over Luxembourg.

8.0k

Sep 17th 2021, 10:42 PM

# enough is enough

Premier League express their opposition to a World Cup every two years

Arsene Wenger, now Fifa’s head of global development, is consulting across the game about the plans and is due to address the media about it today.

3.1k

Sep 9th 2021, 12:26 PM

# Griez lightning

Griezmann double gets France back on track while Haaland and Depay both score hat-tricks

The World Cup holders had gone five games without a win.

6.1k

Sep 7th 2021, 10:23 PM

# top of the table

Portugal still in control of Ireland's qualifying group after win over Azerbaijan

It finished 3-0 in Baku.

11.0k

Sep 7th 2021, 7:25 PM

Wasteful Scotland secure narrow qualifying victory against minnows Moldova

In the rest of tonight’s games, France drew 1-1 in Ukraine while Israel recorded the win of the weekend against Austria.

5.2k

Sep 4th 2021, 10:19 PM

# Unhappy

Uefa have ‘grave concerns’ over plans to stage World Cup every two years

The Fifa Congress voted in May to conduct a feasibility study into holding the competition more regularly.

5.5k

Sep 3rd 2021, 10:58 PM

# game's gone

Wenger calls for World Cup every two years and single international window

The 71-year-old Frenchman is now director of development at Fifa.

11.8k

Sep 3rd 2021, 12:17 PM

# They think it's Moldova - it is now

Scotland need to focus on Moldova to get World Cup bid on track – Andy Robertson

Scotland host Moldova before making the trip to Austria.

1.6k

Sep 2nd 2021, 12:02 PM

# Qualifiers

10-man France held by Bosnia and Luxembourg defeat Azerbaijan in Ireland's group

It finished 1-1.

5.0k

Sep 1st 2021, 10:44 PM

# Copenhagen

Scotland’s World Cup hopes dented as Denmark ease to win in Copenhagen

Steve Clarke’s side were two down in 15 minutes through goals from Daniel Wass and Joakim Maehle.

4.2k

Sep 1st 2021, 10:14 PM

# back on track

USA bounce back from opening embarrassment on goal-laden day at Tokyo 2020

The Olympic women’s football tournament heated up today, as Team GB reached the quarter-finals.

7.0k

Jul 24th 2021, 3:42 PM

# Announcement

Japanese football star comes out as transgender man

Kumi Yokoyama is one of the few athletes to do so in a country where LGBTQ rights lag behind other developed nations.

14.2k

Jun 21st 2021, 11:18 PM

# Motivation

'I do everything I can to provide for my family and put them first' - Aki

The Connacht and Ireland centre is hoping to make an impression this Saturday against Japan.

10.6k

Jun 21st 2021, 10:00 PM

# all to play for

Ireland 'have a very good chance to do something special' in World Cup qualifying - Pauw

The manager is largely optimistic after the Girls In Green learned their fate today.

1.6k

Apr 30th 2021, 7:09 PM

# Goal Crazy

7 goals for Netherlands, 8 for Belgium and 14 for Japan in big World Cup qualifier wins

There was some one-sided victories in tonight’s qualifiers.

9.6k

Mar 30th 2021, 10:16 PM

# World Cup

Luxembourg take shock lead but Portugal recover to win World Cup qualifier

Gerson Rodrigues had put Luxembourg in front.

10.0k

Updated

Mar 30th 2021, 9:32 PM

# Mitros On Fire

Mitrovic the hero again with two goals as Serbia grab late win over Azerbaijan

Serbia are top of Ireland’s World Cup qualifier group.

4.8k

Mar 30th 2021, 7:19 PM

# exit door

3 Wales players sent home 'for breaching protocol' ahead of World Cup qualifier

Hal Robson-Kanu, Rabbi Matondo and Tyler Roberts have been released from the Welsh camp.

8.1k

Mar 29th 2021, 4:38 PM

# Video Games

Pandemic blamed for lack of VAR in World Cup qualifiers after Ronaldo fury

Ronaldo thought he had scored a stoppage-time winner for Portugal in Belgrade.

5.2k

Mar 29th 2021, 3:43 PM

# honours even

Ryan Fraser’s second-half strike earns a point for Scotland in Israel

Fraser struck 11 minutes into the second half to earn Scotland a 1-1 draw in front of around 5,000 fans at the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv.

2.2k

Mar 28th 2021, 10:02 PM

# back of the net

Kane ends England goal drought to sink Albania

Harry Kane and Mason Mount netted in England’s 2-0 win in Tirana.

7.8k

Mar 28th 2021, 7:04 PM

# Much success

France beat Kazakhstan - Spain do an Aiden McGeady in Georgia

There was also a thumping 8-0 win for Denmark against Moldova.

8.7k

Updated

Mar 28th 2021, 7:01 PM

# no var

Portugal coach says 'not possible' Ronaldo goal ruled out

“We scored a goal that was not given when the ball went in,” Santos said.

12.4k

Mar 28th 2021, 1:35 PM