Ireland vs Armenia: Where to watch, kick-off time, team news, players to watch and more

The Republic of Ireland's World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign continues as they welcome Armenia to the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Boys in Green will be hoping to secure their first win and maintain a small glimmer of hope for a potential play-off spot. 

Ireland currently sit bottom of Group F after succumbing to a late Ruben Neves winner on Saturday night in Portugal to condemn Heimir Hallgrimsson's men to yet another defeat.

It was a spirited display for Ireland who didn't offer much in attack but held firm in defence to keep out some of the world's best attacking players.

However, not even the heroics of Caoimhin Kelleher who saved a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo was enough to come away from Lisbon with a much-needed point as the Irish turn their attention to Armenia.

The two sides met in Yerevan last month where Armenia outplayed Ireland on their way to a deserved 2-1 win. Ireland can't afford a similar performance or result on Tuesday night with their hopes of a second-place finish hanging by a thread. 

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When is the game on?

Republic of Ireland will host Armenia at the Aviva stadium on Tuesday, October 14 with kick-off time slated for 7:45pm. 

Where can I watch it?

RTE2 will have live coverage of the game beginning from 7pm as Joanne Cantwell is joined by Richie Sadlier and Kevin Doyle to discuss the game's events in detail. 

The match commentary from the Aviva Stadium will be provided by Darragh Maloney and Stephen Kelly. 

RTE 2FM will also present live commentary from the match with their coverage starting from 7pm.

What's the team news? 

Ireland will be without Burnley's Josh Cullen after the midfielder was booked in Lisbon on Saturday night earning him a suspension paving the way for Will Smallbone or Greg Taylor to come into the side.

Charlton Athletic's Conor Coventry was called up to the squad on Sunday in Cullen's absence but is not expected to be in contention to start. 

Hallgrimsson will have to decide whether to stick with Evan Ferguson up front or bring in Troy Parrott for the crucial clash who was in superb goalscoring form for AZ Alkmaar earlier in the season before suffering a knee injury. 

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Defender Liam Scales missed the Portugal game due to a family bereavement and will not return for the Armenia game with QPR's Jimmy Dunne providing cover for him within the squad. 

As for Armenia, they have no fresh injury concerns or withdrawals following their defeat to Hungary on Saturday with manager Eghishe Melikyan expected to name a similar team.

Who are the players to watch?

Ireland will know not to underestimate the visitors following last month's debacle in Armenia. 

Ireland must play on the front foot on home soil and put in their best performance of the campaign yet to secure the vital win and instill confidence in the team ahead of next month's final games. 

Goalkeeper Kelleher as well as the three central defenders in O'Brien, Collins and O'Shea must be faultless at the back in order to create a platform for Ireland to go and win the game. 

There has been a shortage of goals in the Ireland side throughout the campaign which must be addressed in Dublin with attacking output needed from Ogbene, Johnston and whoever leads the line between Ferguson and Parrott.

Eduard Spertsyan will once again be the danger man for the visitors as he will look to repeat his heroics from Armenia's impressive victory over Ireland last month where he opened the scoring.

Armenia keeper Henri Avagyan will also need to produce a fine performance between the sticks on a night where Ireland must go all out for goals to keep their qualifying dream alive. 

Who do Ireland play next? 

Ireland conclude their World Cup qualifying campaign with two more games in the November international break as the fate of the groups will be decided. 

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The Boys in Green will face Portugal in Dublin on November 13 in the penultimate group game before facing Hungary away on November 16.

It's looking increasingly likely that Ireland may need to get a result in both of those games if they are to have a chance of securing that coveted play-off spot. 

Much of the stipulations for Ireland's chances heading into next month's games are dependent on Tuesday's encounter with Armenia which is a must-win game for Hallgrimsson's team.