Republic of Ireland players did not shake hands with the Israeli team before their Nations League match on Sunday night.

The Irish footballers also wore black armbands to honour of all the victims of the war between Israel and Hamas, and bowed their heads throughout the playing of the Israeli national anthem.

The match took place in the near-empty Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen, Hungary, and saw Ireland win 0-3 after three first-half goals from Troy Parrott, Adam Idah and Jack Moylan.

A small number of tickets were made available to Israel fans through the country's football association, while none were assigned to Ireland supporters - yet a group of around 10 people were seen celebrating when Ireland scored.

There was doubt over whether the game would take place at all on Saturday, when an Ireland press conference and training session were delayed after goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu told staff he wanted to leave due to "discomfort" at participating against Israel.

In an Instagram post, the reserve 'keeper said his decision came because of his "personal belief that the killing of innocent people is wrong".

His exit from the team triggered four hours of talks between the Ireland players, who eventually held a vote on whether to boycott the game.

The Football Association of Ireland's (FAI) CEO David Courell later said the "significant majority" voted to play, but also agreed they didn't want to shake the Israeli players' hands beforehand.

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In a press conference on Saturday night, Israel's head coach Ran Ben-Shimon and midfielder Dor Peretz had said they would happily exchange handshakes with their opponents, but there were no attempts on either side to do so before the game.

Ireland has been one of the most outspoken critics of Israel's war in Gaza and there have been numerous protests in the country calling for the team not to fulfil the fixtures with Israel after the teams were drawn together in February.

Ireland are set to hold their home fixture against Israel - on 4 October - in Serbia, where the game will be played behind closed doors.

(c) Sky News 2026: Ireland players refuse handshakes before Nations League win over Israel