'This is our generation's Italia 90': Ireland within touching distance of first World Cup since 2002

Fans relive iconic late winner as Ireland prepares for crucial playoff with World Cup qualification within touching distance

Troy Parrott and Séamus Coleman celebrate after defeating Hungary in the World Cup qualifier in Budapest in November. Picture: Inpho/Ryan Byrne

There’s an infamous clip of Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen being asked in testimony before Congress how many times the US president told him to threaten someone else on his behalf.

“Quite a few times,” he says, shrugging before snapping back at each follow-up. 

“50 times?” 

“More.” 

“100 times?” 

“More.” 

“200 times?” 

“More.” 

“500 times?” 

“Probably.” 

These were the kind of exchanges I was having over how many times I’d watched The Goal, the day after Troy Parrott scored the incredible and unbelievable last-minute winner for Ireland’s men’s football team in Budapest to put us within touching distance of a first World Cup for the first time in 24 years.

The date was Sunday, November 16, 2025. I was at a wedding that day, but mercifully the hotel bar had the game on and it was conveniently timed between the ceremony and the dinner (thank you, Sarah and Darren). 

I excused myself from the table after the speeches to go watch The Goal again. 

And then again before the band came on.

As well as endlessly watching it to Darragh Maloney’s increasingly hoarse tones — “Scales wins the header... it’s a CHANCE” — I consumed every bit of content afterwards. 

The tearful post-match interviews. The live reactions in pubs in Ireland and around the globe. Jumping around with abandon. 

I couldn’t get enough. Nothing brings us together like Ireland playing football.

It has been so very long since we have had something like this. I was in Lansdowne the last time we came this close. The giddiness and talk of getting loans from the credit union to go to Russia abounded ahead of the playoff against Denmark in 2017.

Win it and we make the World Cup. Imagine.

Shane Duffy’s early goal buoyed those feelings until we got totally and utterly trounced. Utterly shellshocked. 5-1. Dream dashed. Again.

I turned 10 the day after Ireland’s men’s last game in the World Cup in 2002. The agony of penalties. First Ian Harte’s miss in normal time and then losing the shootout to Spain. 

Add in the drama of Saipan — as my dad was pro-Roy, so was I — and it became a moment etched in the memory of everyone who lived through it.

Republic of Ireland supporters Simon Dalton, left, from Dublin, and Tom Kinsella, from Cork, at Václav Havel Airport, Prague, ahead of Thursday's Fifa World Cup 2026 play-off semi-final between Czechia and the Republic of Ireland. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

But I was too young to appreciate the gravity of it all. Ireland at the World Cup. This is what dreams are made of. Watching the scenes back from Italia 90 and USA 94 over the years, and the country coming to an utter stop — what I’d give for a chance to live some of those moments again like when the women’s national team qualified for Australia in 2023.

Friends and family gathered in communal spaces with big screens back in the early 90s. Work slacked off, streets emptied, and pubs were jammed. The tears and the jubilation for each goal. The towering peaks and deep troughs of emotion.

My generation and the ones below have never had it for this team in our adult lives. We’ve looked on in envy at the clips from the past, hoping we’ll get the chance to experience it ourselves.

Which brings us to Thursday.

The nerves set in long ago. The euphoria of those two games against Portugal and Hungary where we’d defied the odds and come out on top has eked away. Our pre-Parrott talisman Evan Ferguson struggled at his new club Roma with injury before being ruled out entirely. Josh Cullen, a mainstay in the team, out with a bad injury.

Séamus Coleman, Chiedozie Ogbene, Robbie Brady. All have played so well for us in recent years but were barely getting a kick for their clubs.

Expectation and hope become mingled with reality and pessimism. We couldn’t do it, could we? A good team lies ahead in Czechia on Thursday evening. Another good one in those pesky Danes again if we overcome the Czechs.

Thousands have travelled over to Prague, most without tickets, to soak it all in. It’s all on this. And then hopefully the next one. This team has given ample reason to believe again.

At 7.45pm on Thursday, there’ll be sharp intakes wherever in the world the Irish are gathered when, as George Hamilton famously said, the nation holds its breath.