Republic of Ireland welcome Belgium back to the Aviva Stadium for an international friendly, two years on from their previous fixture which ended in an exciting 2-2 draw.

Ireland head into the game boosted by Ryan Manning's late call-up after he recovered from injury in time to train with the Ireland squad before the Belgium match tomorrow, Saturday, March 23, with kick-off at 5pm. 

It should be a great spectacle at the Aviva Stadium for the first MNT match of 2024 as over 38,000 tickets have been sold with tickets still available from Ticketmaster here. 

Match Details

Fixture: Republic of Ireland v Belgium
Venue: Aviva Stadium
Date: Saturday, March 23
Kick-off: 5pm
Competition: International Friendly
TV: Virgin Media

Match Officials

Referee: Rohit Saggi (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Morten Jensen (NOR)
Assistant Referees 2: Anders Olav Dale (NOR)
Fourth Official: Rob Harvey (IRL)

Team News

A fully fit Ireland squad trained at FAI National Training Centre this morning ahead of the Belgium game tomorrow, Saturday, March 23, as Ryan Manning joined the group to be in contention for the team. Interim Head Coach John O'Shea has a selection headache across many areas of the pitch with a fully fit squad to choose from and the Switzerland friendly to come on Tuesday evening. 

MD-1 Press Conference v Belgium | Interim Head Coach John O'Shea

"It’s an incredible honour to be manager of your country, to get the chance to represent Ireland from U-15 onwards and all the levels, captain your country. The chance to be involved coaching with the U-21s and the senior team and now being manager, it's amazing, one that myself and my family are really proud of.

"We lost Liam Scales and Troy Parrott. Ryan Manning has come in. He had a minor procedure at his club, thankfully it was a watching brief to how he was progressing, and thankfully, it's all gone well for him.

"He joined up with us yesterday, and he will be in the squad straight away, and touch wood, everyone else is fit and fighting well.

"The good thing is there are good players in form and it's a nice problem to have in a good few positions.”

MD-1 Press Conference v Belgium | Midfielder Josh Cullen 

"First and foremost, we're all really looking forward to the game. It's great to be back in with the lads, feels like a long time since November. Any time we get to meet up as a group again is always great.

"It's been a brilliant week, obviously working under the new manager and his staff, really enjoyed it. Touching on the game we played against Belgium before, we know that they've got top quality players but the focus will be on ourselves. 

"We know they're going to be strong and it will be a tough test for us but the focus is very much on ourselves and we're confident going into the game. 

"We've worked on a good game-plan throughout the week, we know we've got quality throughout the squad and we're looking forward to putting that into practice tomorrow night."

WATCH MD-1 PRESS CONFERENCE HERE

Opta Facts - Republic of Ireland v Belgium 

- Republic of Ireland have failed to win any of their last eight matches against Belgium (D5 L3) since a 3-2 away victory back in May 1966.
- Belgium are unbeaten in their last seven away games against the Republic of Ireland (W2 D5), with each of the last four ending as draws, most recently a 2-2 stalemate in March 2022.
- Belgium have only lost one of their last 20 friendly matches (W11 D8), losing 2-1 to Egypt in November 2022. They haven’t lost a friendly game against a European nation since September 2016 against Spain (W6 D6 since then).
- Republic of Ireland have only lost two of their last 16 friendly matches (W8 D6), losing 3-0 against England in November 2020 and 2-1 against Norway in November 2022.
- Belgium have won eight of their last 11 games in all competitions (D3) since losing 2-0 to Morocco at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Belgians have also won each of their last five away games since a 1-0 defeat against the Netherlands in September 2022.
- Romelu Lukaku has netted 15 goals in his nine international appearances for Belgium, including four in his last appearance Azerbaijan. Indeed, he’s looking to score in five successive internationals for the first time since November 2019.
- 19-year-old Evan Ferguson has won 10 caps for the Republic of Ireland, scoring three goals. Only two players have won more caps as a teenager for the Boys in Green – Ian Harte (12) and Robbie Keane (18).

Republic of Ireland Squad - Belgium & Switzerland

Goalkeepers: Gavin Bazunu (Southampton), Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool), Mark Travers (AFC Bournemouth)
Defenders: Seamus Coleman (Everton), Matt Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Nathan Collins (Brentford), Andrew Omobamidele (Nottingham Forest), Dara O'Shea (Burnley), Jake O'Brien (Lyon), Robbie Brady (Preston North End), Festy Ebosele (Udinese), Ryan Manning (Southampton). 
Midfielders: Josh Cullen (Burnley), Jason Knight (Bristol City), Will Smallbone (Southampton). Jamie McGrath (Aberdeen), Callum O’Dowda (Cardiff City), Mark Sykes (Bristol City), Finn Azaz (Middlesbrough), Mikey Johnston (West Bromwich Albion). 
Forwards: Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion), Adam Idah (Celtic), Michael Obafemi (Millwall, on loan from Burnley), Sammie Szmodics (Blackburn Rovers), Chiedozie Ogbene (Luton Town).

Fixtures - International Friendlies

23/03 - Ireland v Belgium, Aviva Stadium, 5pm
26/03 - Ireland v Switzerland, Aviva Stadium, 7.45pm