The UEFA Nations is biennial event that pits European countries against each other in a competitive nature. Teams are separated if there's some form of the national conflict.
Despite none existing between the two countries; Ireland's request to avoid playing Israel has been denied.
UEFA has said that decisions on whether national teams should be kept apart in competition draws are made on a case-by-case basis and guided primarily by security considerations; after the Republic of Ireland’s football association said its request to avoid future pairings with Israel had been rejected.
Football Association of Ireland (FAI) chief executive, David Courell, said on Friday that it had asked UEFA if the Republic of Ireland and Israel could be separated in future draws after being paired in February’s Nations League draw.
They are due to meet in that competition on 27 September and 4 October.
European football’s governing body said requests to stop teams being drawn against each other are considered individually.
"Decisions to avoid certain teams being drawn against each other are made taking into consideration several factors, especially conditions between the two countries leading to structural risks for security," UEFA said in a statement on Saturday.
"UEFA handles every situation very carefully on its own merits and monitors all facts and developments."
Courell told reporters the FAI had been informed that such an arrangement would not be possible because Ireland and Israel had "never been in direct conflict."
The Israel Football Association (IFA) also responded to Courell’s remarks; questioning whether a formal request had been made to UEFA.
"The question should be directed at UEFA: was there an official inquiry or request regarding this matter, or is this merely another inconsequential statement?" IFA head of communications, Shlomi Barzel, told the Reuters news agency.
"Since we long ago stopped getting worked up over statements detached from reality, we are focusing on high-quality professional preparations to achieve our goals on the pitch."
The fixtures have been controversial in Ireland amid the conflict in the Middle East.
Last November, members of the FAI voted overwhelmingly for its board to request that UEFA should suspend the IFA from European competitions; while in May, leading Irish footballers and celebrities joined in a campaign for a boycott of Ireland’s home Nations League fixture.
Ireland’s designated home match on 4 October is due to be played behind closed doors in Backa Topola, Serbia, instead of Dublin, while Irish fans won't receive tickets for Israel’s designated home fixture in Debrecen, Hungary, the previous weekend.
As soon as the Republic of Ireland were placed with Israel - plus Austria and Kosovo - at the Nations League draw in February, the FAI faced calls from some to boycott the matches becuase of Israel's military action in Gaza.
The FAI eventually took a vote of its delegates in July, in which 75 members voted to play the matches and 32 voted to boycott.
Not playing the matches could've harmed Irish football in the long-run, the FAI said, amid the possibility of UEFA sanctions for refusing to fulfil the fixtures and the potential loss of millions of euros in income.
No tickets are being sold to Irish fans for either the 'home' or 'away' matches, with a small allocation available for Israeli fans for the first fixture; which has been the case at multiple previous Israel home games held in Hungary.
Hungary has been deemed a suitable host nation for Israel matches because the two nations enjoy stronger diplomatic ties than those between Israel and many other European nations and it has been willing to provide the necessary policing and security arrangements for matches to operate smoothly.
The FAI decided in the summer to play its 'home' fixture against Israel at a neutral stadium, citing "operational challenges that could impact on the delivery of the game on home soil".
Reports have claimed the FAI was concerned protests could prevent the match from taking place in Dublin.
The FAI gave no official reason for the selection of Backa Topola, but choosing a venue in Serbia - in a town so remote - in theory, renders security management easier and reduces the possibility of protest.
In 2025, Serbian foreign minister, Marko Duric, described Israel as one of Serbia's "closest friends and strategic partners." Serbia has also purchased military equipment, including drones and missiles, from Israel in recent years.
The decision to play in neutral stadiums hasn't curtailed opposition.
Fans of various Irish clubs have demonstrated against the matches during domestic fixtures in recent weeks and on Monday, more than 160 Irish athletes signed an open letter by the Irish Sport for Palestine group urging a boycott. The signatories include boxer Tyrone McKenna and former European champion athlete, Ciara Mageean.
In response, the IFA accused Republic of Ireland manager, Heimir Hallgrimsson, of, "ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity."
The Republic of Ireland faced Israel in Women's EuroBasket qualifiers last autumn and earlier this year after "extensive deliberations."
Irish support for Palestinians is long-standing. The Republic of Ireland has been among the European countries to most keenly show support for Palestinians since the start of Israel's military offensive in Gaza in October 2023.
More than 73 000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry; whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations (UN).
In May 2024, alongside Spain and Norway, Ireland officially recognised a Palestinian state and later that year joined South Africa's Gaza genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice.
The country has also boycotted Eurovision since 2025 because of Israel's ongoing participation in the song contest, was the first EU country to ban goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and has issued travel bans for Israeli government ministers.
On Monday, Irish foreign minister, Helen McEntee, said: "Ireland's view is clear - international law is being breached. We are seeing an attempt to erase a population."
Israel has criticised Ireland's standpoint and claims its actions in Gaza constitute self-defence, after the armed Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023; killing about 1 200 people and taking 251 hostages.
More than 160 Irish sportspeople have signed an open letter asking the Ireland national football team to boycott their upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures against Israel, the Irish Sport for Palestine Group said on Monday.
Irish Sport for Palestine said the signatories included Olympian Ciara Mageean, former footballer Louise Quinn, former rugby flyhalf Tony Ward and boxers Tyrone McKenna and Eric Donovan.
"This is a significant moment and with this moment you have an opportunity to do the right thing," the letter said.
"Not playing the game would be the most sporting thing you could do. Through your leadership and courage, it would show the power of sport to unite, remind us of the shared values that connect us all, and have an impact far beyond the game."
Ahead of the opening matches of the 2026-27 men’s UEFA Nations League group phase where Austria, Ireland and Kosovo will play against Israel during the 24 September – 6 October international window, Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for Europe said:
"It’s unconscionable that the Israel men’s football team will participate in the UEFA Nations League this autumn despite clear evidence that Israel’s football association continues to support illegal settlements."
"Instead of sending a clear message that there is a cost for Israel’s unlawful occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and its atrocity crimes against Palestinians, UEFA is giving Israel an international stage as it maintains its brutal occupation of the OPT, its system of apartheid over all Palestinians, and its ongoing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."
“UEFA and FIFA should have suspended the Israel Football Association (IFA) long ago, for its refusal to exclude clubs based in illegal settlements in the OPT. Their continued participation in the Israeli leagues is in brazen violation of FIFA’s statutes and is contrary to international law. As the money keeps flowing from FIFA and UEFA to the IFA, they risk contributing to the sustainability of illegal settlements and of Israel’s unlawful occupation of the OPT, and therefore Israel’s violations of Palestinians’ human rights."
"Decisions and opinions by international courts, and resolutions by the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Security Council, over the last decades, have repeatedly condemned Israel for its multiple and egregious violations."
"Sport should never be used as a public relations spectacle for states committing atrocities."
As the Israel team travels to Europe, Palestinian families are being displaced and dispossessed, their land stolen, their olive trees uprooted and their histories erased by settlers with the support of the Israeli military. The beautiful game should bring people together, not rubber-stamp apartheid.
"As political leaders and sporting authorities choose to stay on the sidelines, fuelling Israel’s impunity, fans are stepping onto the pitch to demand accountability, justice and fair play. When rules are broken, when occupation, apartheid and genocide are ongoing, we cannot look the other way."
To me, this request is unfounded. Ireland have played no role in the ongoing war. They therefore have no reason to boycott the matches. This situation isn't even close to the Ukraine-Russia situation.