Republic of Ireland: Hallgrimsson announces his squad for the World Cup qualifiers

Heimir Hallgrimsson, coach of the Republic of Ireland, announced his squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers, which includes Evan Ferguson, despite suffering from an ankle problem.

The striker – on loan to Roma from Brighton, who scored in the 1-0 win over Armenia in October, suffered the injury against Parma on October 29. However, he has been included in the 25-man squad for the final two group matches starting at home to Portugal on Thursday 13 November (19:45 GMT) ahead of a trip to Hungary on Sunday 16 November (14:00 GMT).

Hallgrimsson’s team enters the final round of Group F matches in third place, one point behind Hungary, which travels to Armenia in its first match, knowing that qualifying for the 2026 World Cup may be out of its reach with one match to go if it loses to leaders Portugal.

Jason Molumby and Ryan Manning will miss that game due to suspension, but both are included in the squad.

There is a return for Mark Sykes although his club Bristol City revealed he will miss the next two matches after sustaining a leg injury during Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers.

With Callum O’Dowda out, Jimmy Dunne retains his place in the squad after coming on as a late substitute for the October international, while 26-year-old American-born Kevin O’Toole receives a call-up with the New York City left winger eligible through his grandfather.

However, there is no call-up for Celtic’s Jonny Kenny – despite scoring three goals in his last two games, including the opener in the EFL Cup semi-final win over Rangers at the weekend – although Hallgrimsson is missing the injured Sami Smoedeks.