Armenia defeat Ireland to claim first victory in 2026 World Cup qualifiers

The Armenian national football team earned a brilliant victory in the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualification, beating Ireland 2-1 in Yerevan on September 9.

On the last minute of the first half, Eduard Spertsyan opened the scoring from the penalty spot (45+1), after Lucas Zelarayán won the foul following a cross from Ranos. Early in the second half, Grant-Leon Ranos doubled the hosts’ advantage, finishing a pass from Nair Tiknizyan (51). Ireland managed to respond only once: AS Roma striker Evan Ferguson scored in the 57th minute.

For Armenia, this was not only the first three points in the qualifying campaign, but also the first win under new head coach Yeghishe Melikyan, and the first in 2025. It was noted that the team delivered one of their most solid and impressive performances in recent years. Just days earlier, on September 6, Armenia had lost 0-5 to Portugal.

Armenia lineup
Ognjen Čančarević — Kamo Hovhannisyan, Erik Piloyan, Georgiy Harutyunyan, Sergey Muradyan, Nair Tiknizyan — Ugochukwu Iwu, Eduard Spertsyan — Lucas Zelarayán (79, Artur Serobyan), Grant-Leon Ranos (67, Vahan Bichakhchyan), Tigran Barseghyan (79, Jirair Shaghoyan).

In Group F, Portugal and Hungary are also competing and will face each other later this evening.

“Pyunik Academy” players defeated the Irish team twice