Armenia’s national team gains unique advantage in the schedule ahead of the match against Ireland

Tomorrow’s clash between Armenia and Ireland will be special from the perspective of the 2026 World Cup qualifying calendar. For the first and only time in this qualification cycle, Armenia will play a second consecutive home match.

After a 0:5 defeat to Portugal on September 6, the Armenian players had three days for recovery and preparation. The Irish team, however, faced a much tougher scenario: their match against Hungary (2:2) started two hours later, and already early on September 7, they began their journey. The flight to Yerevan took around eight hours, and only in the evening did the Irish squad arrive in the Armenian capital.

As a result, Ireland will have just one full training session before tomorrow’s match, while Armenia had more time to get ready.

Such an advantage will not repeat for Armenia during this campaign. The home match against Hungary on November 13 will open the November stretch, which means the Hungarians will have much more preparation time.

Group F matches (September 6):
Armenia – Portugal 0:5
Ireland – Hungary 2:2

Matches on September 9:
Armenia – Ireland
Hungary – Portugal