Ireland players bow heads during Hatikvah and skip handshakes with Israel

Players from the Republic of Ireland's national football team lowered their heads while Israel's national anthem was played before the two sides met in the UEFA Nations League on September 27, 2026, according to several Israeli news organisations. Ynet reported in a news alert that the Irish squad bowed their heads during "Hatikvah", the Israeli anthem, before kick-off.

The Times of Israel reported that every member of the Irish team declined to shake hands with the Israeli players at the start of the game, which was played in Debrecen, Hungary. According to that report, the teams parted after the anthems without the customary handshakes and exchange of pennants, and the Irish players wore black armbands. The same report said Ireland went ahead 2-0 early in the match.

What happened on the pitch before kick-off

Pre-match ceremonies at international football fixtures usually follow a set routine: both anthems are played, the players line up and shake hands with their opponents, and the captains swap pennants. On this occasion, according to The Times of Israel, that sequence stopped after the anthems.

The black armbands had been announced beforehand. The Times of Israel said the Irish delegation described them as a gesture of respect for "all lives lost in the conflict". The report did not say which statements the delegation made beyond that phrase.

Was the handshake decision agreed in advance?

The reports describe the arrangement around the handshakes in slightly different terms. A correspondent for N12, the news arm of Israel's Channel 12, said the players of both teams did not shake hands under an understanding reached in advance between the two national sides.

The Times of Israel attributed the account to Israel's delegation, which it said had explained earlier in the day that the Irish team told UEFA it would not shake hands with the Israelis, and that UEFA agreed. In that version, the notice came from the Irish side and was approved by the governing body, rather than being described as a mutual agreement between the teams. The reports do not reconcile these two descriptions, and neither quotes UEFA directly.

The competition and the governing body

UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, runs European football at club and national team level. The Nations League is its competition for national teams, played in groups. Israel competes in European football through UEFA. The Israeli Foreign Ministry's post on X referred to Israel meeting Ireland twice in this edition of the Nations League, meaning the fixture in Debrecen was the first of two between them.

None of the reports explains why the match was held in Hungary rather than in either country.

Israeli reactions

Coverage in Israel was sharply critical in some quarters. The Hebrew news channel News.co.il described the Irish players' conduct as "sickening" in its alert on the anthem.

Israel's Foreign Ministry responded on its official X account without naming a specific incident. The ministry's post said "Some politicize sport. Others actually play it," and emphasised that Israel's squad of 27 players includes both Jewish and Arab Israelis playing under one flag. It closed by contrasting those who "choose protest" with those who choose to play together.

How the event was documented

The Times of Israel illustrated its report with a screenshot from X showing the Irish players with heads bowed during the anthem, and embedded a post from a user on the platform. The Hebrew outlets published short alerts on Telegram within minutes of each other, all centred on the moment during the anthem.

What the reports do not say

The reports do not include any statement from the Football Association of Ireland or from Irish players explaining the decision in their own words, beyond the armband wording relayed by The Times of Israel. No report quotes UEFA on whether it approved the handshake arrangement, or on whether it will take any view on the players' conduct.

The reports also do not give a final score; the only figure cited is Ireland's early 2-0 lead. They do not say whether the Israeli team or the Israel Football Association lodged any complaint, nor do they describe how spectators in Debrecen reacted. The date and venue of the second meeting between the two sides are not stated.