Ireland Vs Qatar: Republic of Ireland Seek Another Aviva Win
ireland vs qatar reached its third meeting at Aviva Stadium on Monday, with the Republic of Ireland and Qatar kicking off a friendly at 19:45 BST. Ireland have already beaten Qatar 4-0 in Dublin and drawn 1-1 in Hungary, so this match adds another line to a brief series between sides that have rarely needed much separating.
Aviva Stadium and the 4-0 memory
The last time these teams met in Dublin, Ireland won 4-0 in October 2021. The earlier meeting came five months before that, when the sides finished 1-1 in Hungary in March 2021. That leaves Ireland with the upper hand in the head-to-head, and the Aviva has already been the site of one one-sided result in this pairing.
Ireland also bring a strong record against Asian opposition into the match. They have won nine of 11 fixtures of that type in their history, and all five home games against Asian opposition have ended in victory by an aggregate score of 13-0. Qatar, by contrast, arrived with a mixed recent record against European teams, having avoided defeat in five of their last seven against that opposition but failing to win any of their last three.
Jack Moylan and Ireland's form
Jack Moylan gave Ireland another talking point earlier this month when he became the second player to score a hat-trick on his Republic of Ireland debut against Grenada. Ireland recorded 37 shots in that outing, and seven players made their debuts, which put more depth on show ahead of this friendly.
That result also extended Ireland's unbeaten run to six games in all competitions. The last six-match stretch included four wins and two draws, and they have not had a longer unbeaten run since the period between September 2021 and March 2022.
Qatar's qualification route
Qatar came in having qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup through the fourth round of AFC qualification. They did it with a 0-0 draw against Oman and a 2-1 win over the United Arab Emirates after conceding more goals than any other team in the third round, when they let in 24 goals and shipped three or more in exactly half of their 10 matches.
Almoez Ali was central to that qualifying run, scoring 12 goals in 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Only Erling Haaland scored more. For Ireland, the test was whether their home record and recent scoring burst could carry over against a side that had already recovered from a rough qualifying phase and reached the tournament the hard way.
