UEFA Regions’ Cup | Ireland ready for games on home soil

Oct 28 2026

The UEFA Regions’ Cup arrives in Cork this weekend as Ireland get their 2026-27 campaign underway with three games in the Munster FA Turner’s Cross Stadium.

This is the top tier of the amateur game with 34 different National Associations involved in a tournament that Ireland won on home soil in 2015.

For the Intermediate Round, the Ireland squad is represented by the Munster region – after they won the FAI Amateur Inter-Provincial Tournament in March 2026 – and they will face opponents from Belarus (Sunday, November 1st), Malta (Wednesday, November 4th) and Croatia (Saturday, November 7th).

Head Coach Jason Purcell is the man in charge and carries over from leading the Munster team earlier in the year. He had tough choices to make in whittling down the squad down to just 18 players, but insists that they are now ready for the games to roll around.

“We’re excited now and the lads are looking forward to it. We have 11 players from the last Regions’ Cup so a lot of the players have been together for the last two years and that continuity is a big thing for us,” said Purcell.

“We’re just focusing on that first game on Sunday against Belarus. The last time we played in this competition, we had 23 attempts in our first game and it came back to haunt us a little bit so we won’t look past this first game.

“We’ve seen the great local support that the Ireland Under-21s have gotten in Turner’s Cross of late and that counts for a lot. It is a good stadium and we hope to get good crowds for our games because it means a lot to the lads to play these games at home.”

In preparation for this three-game series, the Ireland squad faced their counterparts from Northern Ireland in a Friendly game, took on the Cork City and Waterford League of Ireland Academy Under-20 teams and also had a four-day camp at Preston North End’s training ground in England.

Tickets for each of Ireland’s games will be available at the stadium, priced at €10 adults, €5 Under-16 / OAP, and Free for Under-12s.

Ireland Regions’ Cup Squad
Goalkeepers: Craig Dunphy (Villa), Shane Hallahan (Midleton)

Defenders: Jake Dillon (Fairview Rangers), Jason Cross (Fairview Rangers), Sean Guerins (BT Harps), John Tamen (Villa), Cian Murphy (Rockmount), Christopher McCarthy (Ringmahon Rangers)

Midfielders: Adam Conway (Villa), Matt Keane (Killarney Celtic), Conor Kilgannon (Villa), Conor Coughlan (Aisling Annacotty), Jamie O’Sullivan (Ringmahon Rangers), Keelan Crowley (College Corinthians)

Forwards: Eoin Hayes (Newmarket Celtic), Jack Cairns (Ringmahon Rangers), Luke Casey (Coachford), Eoin Murphy (Rockmount)

Staff: Jason Purcell (Head Coach), Stewart Fitzgerald (Assistant Head Coach), Greg Foley, Paul Breen (Coaches), Michael Costello (Goalkeeping Coach), Dr. Garret Linehan (Team Doctor), Pearse Foley (Physio), Tadgh O’Neill (Equipment Manager), Barry Cotter (Team Operations Manager)

UEFA Regions’ Cup Results
1999: Group Stage
2001: Group Stage
2003: Group Stage
2005: Group Stage
2007: Group Stage
2009: Group Stage
2011: Runner-Up
2013: Group Stage
2015: Winner
2017: Runner-Up
2019: Group Stage
2023: Group Stage
2025: Group Stage