Euro 2012
Second in the group, 4–0 in Tallinn, three defeats in Poland
Ireland finished second in Group B, two points behind Russia, and met Estonia in a play-off. They won 4–0 in Tallinn, Robbie Keane scoring twice, and drew 1–1 in Dublin.
At the finals they lost all three games: 3–1 to Croatia in Poznań, 4–0 to Spain in Gdańsk and 2–0 to Italy in Poznań. Sean St Ledger scored Ireland’s only goal.
Qualifying Group B, final table
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 4 | 23 |
| Ireland | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 7 | 21 |
| Armenia | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 10 | 17 |
| Slovakia | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 15 |
| North Macedonia | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 8 |
| Andorra | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 25 | 0 |
Three points for a win. Group winners and the best runner-up qualified; the other runners-up went into the play-offs.
Ireland’s qualifying games
| Date | Game |
|---|---|
| 3 Sep 2010 | Armenia 0–1 IrelandYerevan · Ireland: Keith Fahey 76′ |
| 7 Sep 2010 | Ireland 3–1 AndorraDublin · Ireland: Kevin Kilbane 15′, Kevin Doyle 41′, Robbie Keane 54′ |
| 8 Oct 2010 | Ireland 2–3 RussiaDublin · Ireland: Robbie Keane 72′ (pen), Shane Long 78′ · Russia: Aleksandr Kerzhakov 11′, Alan Dzagoev 29′, Roman Shirokov 50′ |
| 12 Oct 2010 | Slovakia 1–1 IrelandŽilina · Ireland: Sean St Ledger 16′ · Slovakia: Ján Ďurica 36′ |
| 26 Mar 2011 | Ireland 2–1 North MacedoniaDublin · Ireland: Aiden McGeady 2′, Robbie Keane 21′ · North Macedonia: Ivan Trickovski 45′ |
| 4 Jun 2011 | North Macedonia 0–2 IrelandSkopje · Ireland: Robbie Keane 7′, Robbie Keane 37′ |
| 2 Sep 2011 | Ireland 0–0 SlovakiaDublin |
| 6 Sep 2011 | Russia 0–0 IrelandMoscow |
| 7 Oct 2011 | Andorra 0–2 IrelandSant Julià de Lòria · Ireland: Kevin Doyle 8′, Aiden McGeady 20′ |
| 11 Oct 2011 | Ireland 2–1 ArmeniaDublin · Ireland: Valeri Aleksanyan 43′ (og), Richard Dunne 59′ · Armenia: Henrikh Mkhitaryan 62′ |
Play-off
| Date | Game |
|---|---|
| 11 Nov 2011 | Estonia 0–4 IrelandTallinn · Ireland: Keith Andrews 13′, Jonathan Walters 67′, Robbie Keane 71′, Robbie Keane 88′ (pen) |
| 15 Nov 2011 | Ireland 1–1 EstoniaDublin · Ireland: Stephen Ward 31′ · Estonia: Konstantin Vassiljev 57′ |
Ireland won 5–1 on aggregate.
The finals, Poland
| Date | Game |
|---|---|
| 10 Jun 2012 | Ireland 1–3 CroatiaPoznań · Ireland: Sean St Ledger 19′ · Croatia: Mario Mandžukić 3′, Nikica Jelavić 43′, Mario Mandžukić 48′ |
| 14 Jun 2012 | Ireland 0–4 SpainGdańsk · Spain: Fernando Torres 4′, David Silva 49′, Fernando Torres 70′, Cesc Fàbregas 83′ |
| 18 Jun 2012 | Ireland 0–2 ItalyPoznań · Italy: Antonio Cassano 35′, Mario Balotelli 90′ |
Group C, final table
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| Italy | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| Croatia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Ireland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
Three points for a win. The top two went through.
The squad
| No. | Pos | Player | Club | Caps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Shay Given | Aston Villa | 125 |
| 2 | DF | Sean St Ledger | Leicester City | 30 |
| 3 | DF | Stephen Ward | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 15 |
| 4 | DF | John O'Shea | Sunderland | 79 |
| 5 | DF | Richard Dunne | Aston Villa | 76 |
| 6 | MF | Glenn Whelan | Stoke City | 42 |
| 7 | MF | Aiden McGeady | Spartak Moscow | 52 |
| 8 | MF | Keith Andrews | West Bromwich Albion | 32 |
| 9 | FW | Kevin Doyle | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 50 |
| 10 | FW | Robbie Keane (captain) | LA Galaxy | 120 |
| 11 | MF | Damien Duff | Fulham | 100 |
| 12 | DF | Stephen Kelly | Fulham | 30 |
| 13 | DF | Paul McShane | Hull City | 27 |
| 14 | FW | Jonathan Walters | Stoke City | 10 |
| 15 | MF | Darron Gibson | Everton | 19 |
| 16 | GK | Keiren Westwood | Sunderland | 10 |
| 17 | MF | Stephen Hunt | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 39 |
| 18 | DF | Darren O'Dea | Celtic | 14 |
| 19 | FW | Shane Long | West Bromwich Albion | 27 |
| 20 | FW | Simon Cox | West Bromwich Albion | 15 |
| 21 | MF | Paul Green | Derby County | 12 |
| 22 | MF | James McClean | Sunderland | 3 |
| 23 | GK | David Forde | Millwall | 2 |
Caps as they stood when the tournament began. Manager: Giovanni Trapattoni.