Lauren Hemp and Georgia Stanway each bagged a brace as England moved to the brink of qualifying for the 2023 Women’s World Cup with a comprehensive 5-0 win in Northern Ireland.Ellen White struck midway through the first half only for her effort to be chalked off for offside, but Hemp’s mistimed strike looped into the net in the 25th minute as England seized the initiative.The Lioness...Full Story »

Ian Baraclough insisted Northern Ireland would not lose any confidence from suffering their first home defeat in a year after being edged out by Hungary 1-0.Northern Ireland were on the wrong end of a result at home – and conceded their first goals at Windsor Park – since the United States won 2-1 in Belfast in March 2021, but this was a game Baraclough’s side could and perhaps...Full Story »

Substitute Troy Parrott spared the Republic of Ireland’s blushes with a stoppage-time winner in a narrow 1-0 victory against lowly Lithuania on a night when they had four goals disallowed for offside.The Tottenham striker, currently on loan at MK Dons, produced his third senior international strike in the nick of time after Chiedozie Ogbene twice, Conor Hourihane and Scott Hogan had seen e...Full Story »

Hungary capitalised on a mistake from Niall McGinn to edge out Northern Ireland 1-0 at Windsor Park.Dundee winger McGinn undersold Bailey Peacock-Farrell with a back-pass, allowing Roland Sallai to nip in and score with 56 minutes gone.Up until that point Northern Ireland had looked the more dangerous side with captain Steven Davis hitting the outside of the post and McGinn himself going close, ...Full Story »

Late goals from Steven Davis and Gavin Whyte gave Northern Ireland a 3-1 win over Luxembourg, but Ian Baraclough’s side did not have it all their own way in this friendly.Substitutes Davis and Whyte scored in the 83rd and 85th minutes to snatch victory, but for much of the second half Luxembourg had looked the more likely winners after Marvin Martins’ 58th-minute header had cancelled...Full Story »

Shrewsbury will be without Tom Flanagan for the visit of Lincoln.The Shrews have enjoyed thumping wins over Morecambe and at Sky Bet League One leaders Rotherham, scoring eight goals along the way and conceding none.But they will have to make at least one change with Flanagan on international duty with Northern Ireland.Defender Aaron Pierre is also away with Grenada while midfielder David Davis ...Full Story »

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin tipped Connor Ronan for a maiden Republic of Ireland call-up after the midfielder scored the only goal in a narrow 1-0 victory against Hibernian in front of national team boss Stephen Kenny.The on-loan Wolves midfielder pinched the ball off Jake Doyle-Hayes before firing a fierce drive past Kevin Dabrowski to propel the Buddies to within a point of the cinch Premier...Full Story »

St Mirren boss Jim Goodwin challenged Connor Ronan to produce his brilliant winner against Aberdeen on a regular basis and push himself into international reckoning.The Republic of Ireland Under-21 international curled home from just inside the box to earn Saints a 1-0 win and put them three points off the cinch Premiership’s top six.The on-loan Wolves midfielder now has four goals for the...Full Story »

Ian Baraclough revealed Gianluca Vialli compared Northern Ireland’s defensive performance to a “typical Italian masterclass” after they frustrated the European champions in a 0-0 draw that leaves Italy facing the World Cup qualifying play-offs.Roberto Mancini’s side arrived at Windsor Park needing a victory to top Group C and secure a ticket to Qatar but could not find a ...Full Story »

European champions Italy must go into the World Cup qualifying play-offs after being held to a goalless draw by brilliant Northern Ireland at Windsor Park.In the best performance of the Ian Baraclough era, Northern Ireland frustrated their illustrious visitors for 90 minutes – with Conor Washington unable to take a last-minute chance to snatch a famous victory.With Switzerland beating Bulg...Full Story »

Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny has offered a passionate defence of Irish football following comments from Luxembourg counterpart Luc Holtz.In the run-up to Ireland’s 3-0 World Cup qualifier victory at the Stade de Luxembourg on Sunday, Kenny had been unhappy with Holtz’s description of his team’s style of play as “British” and the same as they had adopted...Full Story »

Stephen Kenny’s hopes of earning a contract extension were handed a major boost as the Republic of Ireland romped to a 3-0 win over Luxembourg in their final World Cup qualifier.Goals from Shane Duffy, Chiedozie Ogbene and Callum Robinson inside the final 22 minutes clinched victory – just Ireland’s second in a competitive fixture in 15 attempts – and third place in Group...Full Story »

Ian Baraclough felt his Northern Ireland side deserved to win by more after they needed an own goal to end their long wait for a Windsor Park victory by edging out Lithuania 1-0 on Friday night.Northern Ireland bossed possession and had two strikes ruled out before the break in a dominant first half, but could not add to Benas Satkus’ 18th-minute own goal as they registered a first competi...Full Story »

Northern Ireland got their first competitive win at Windsor Park in two and a half years as they edged out Lithuania 1-0 on Friday night.After World Cup hopes were ended last month this was a much brighter performance from Ian Baraclough’s men in their penultimate qualifier, but old problems in front of goal remained as – despite Northern Ireland bossing play – only Benas Satku...Full Story »

Cristiano Ronaldo failed to repeat his magic against the Republic of Ireland as 10-man Portugal were held to a goalless draw in their World Cup qualifier in Dublin.The 36-year-old scored two last-gasp headers in the reverse fixture in September to snatch victory at the death and powered a 67th-minute effort wide with a crowd of 50,737 at the Aviva Stadium expecting the net to bulge.He then fired...Full Story »

Beth Mead scored a hat-trick in less than 15 minutes as England maintained their flawless start to their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign with a 4-0 win over Northern Ireland.The visitors had defended resolutely at Wembley and put their bodies on the line until Mead’s introduction as a second-half substitute.The Arsenal forward scored the first just moments after coming on to the field, ...Full Story »

Stephen Kenny is hoping in-form striker Callum Robinson realises how important he could be to the Republic of Ireland after scoring five goals in his last two games.The West Brom forward followed up his double in Saturday’s qualifying victory in Azerbaijan with a hat-trick in a 4-0 friendly rout of World Cup hosts Qatar in Dublin on Tuesday evening to take his tally for his country to six ...Full Story »

Ian Baraclough was left to lament an all-too-familiar story for Northern Ireland as a lack of cutting edge proved decisive in a 2-1 World Cup qualifying defeat to Bulgaria.After Saturday’s controversial 2-0 loss to Switzerland left hopes of going to Qatar hanging by a thread, a second-half collapse in Sofia cut them off decisively as Todor Nedelev’s fine brace cancelled out Conor Was...Full Story »

Callum Robinson plundered a hat-trick as the Republic of Ireland beat World Cup hosts Qatar 4-0 to win back-to-back games for the first time since March 2019.Robinson, whose first-half double in Azerbaijan on Saturday set up a 3-0 World Cup qualifying victory, repeated the trick inside 13 minutes at the Aviva Stadium and then added a third eight minutes after the restart to become the first Irel...Full Story »

A bad week for Northern Ireland got worse on Tuesday night as two crisp Todor Nedelev strikes saw Bulgaria come from behind to win 2-1 in Sofia.Conor Washington’s sixth international goal had given Ian Baraclough’s side a half-time lead as they looked to have responded well to Saturday’s controversial 2-0 defeat in Switzerland which effectively ended World Cup qualifying hopes,...Full Story »