Republic of Ireland are set to host England for the first time since a goalless draw in a friendly in June 2015. In a competitive match, it’s the first time since a November 1990 European Championship qualifier, drawn 1-1 with Tony Cascarino cancelling out David Platt’s opener for England.
England won their last meeting with the Republic of Ireland in November 2020 – they haven’t won consecutive games against them since doing so with wins in 1980 and 1985.
This is England’s first game without Gareth Southgate in charge since a 1-0 win over Slovakia in September 2016 in Sam Allardyce’s only match in charge. Including caretakers, only four managers have lost their first game in charge of the Three Lions: Alf Ramsey (2-5 vs France in 1963), Howard Wilkinson (0-2 vs France in 1999), Peter Taylor (0-1 vs Italy in 2000) and Stuart Pearce (2-3 vs Netherlands in 2012).
Republic of Ireland didn’t win any of their first 12 matches in the UEFA Nations League (D5 L7) but won two of their last four in 2022 (D1 L1), beating Scotland and Armenia.
England have shipped the opening goal in each of their last four matches, all in the knockout stages of EURO 2024 (W2 D1 L1). They haven’t conceded the opener in five games in a row since between November 1953 and June 1954.
England have scored just 13 goals in 11 games in 2024, having netted 26 in 10 games in 2023. Their 2024 average of 1.2 goals per game is their lowest in a year since 2000 (exactly one per game, 11 goals in 11 games).
Heimir Hallgrímsson will take charge of the Republic of Ireland for the first time in this match. He was in joint charge of Iceland when they knocked England out of EURO 2016 with a 2-1 win; the only manager to defeat England with two different nations is Bora Milutinovic, in 1985 with Mexico and 1993 with the USA.
Cole Palmer has a goal and an assist in his last two England appearances (assist vs Netherlands, goal vs Spain), coming off the bench in each game. The last Chelsea player to net in consecutive England matches was Frank Lampard between September 2012 and May 2013 (five in a row), with the last game in that run coming against the Republic of Ireland.