Republic of Ireland vs Switzerland Prediction & Betting Tips

Aviva Stadium hosts the Republic of Ireland and Switzerland this Tuesday in an international friendly. Switzerland will be looking to take a winning record into the European Championship whereas Ireland look to pick up a win before sitting on the sidelines this summer.

• Date: 26/03/2024
• Kick off time: 19:45
• Location: Aviva Stadium

Switzerland found themselves as underdogs in the 2021 European Championships and are looking to build momentum before they aim to get even further this summer. Ireland, however, look to get a win before they have to watch the tournament from home.

Ireland drew a tough Qualifiers group, having to compete against the likes of France, the Netherlands, Greece and Gibraltar. In eight games, Ireland have two wins and six losses which left them on six points, seven points from the Play-offs and 12 points from out-right qualification.

In fact Ireland have only competed in the European Championships three times, in 1988, 2012 and 2016, the furthest they’ve ever gotten being the Round of 16, losing 2 - 1 to France.

Switzerland, on the other hand, have secured qualification for the Euros this summer. Group I saw Switzerland take on Romania, Israel, Belarus, Kosovo and Andorra. In ten games, Switzerland picked up four wins, five draws and one loss, leaving them on 17 points, two points within qualification and five points from top of the group Romania.

At the last European Championships, Switzerland finished third in their group of Italy, Wales and Turkey but ranked high enough among the other third place finishers to progress to the knock-out round. Switzerland beat France on penalties in the Round of 16, but lost on penalties to Spain in the Quarter-finals.

Ireland and Switzerland have met 18 times in their histories, with the first meeting being an international friendly back in 1935. Ireland have the slightly better record in the fixture with eight wins in comparison to Switzerland’s six wins, the other four games ending in a draw.

This fixture has always been a relatively low-scoring one, with only one game with over two goals in seven games, that being the 2 - 1 win for Switzerland in 2002.

Republic of Ireland Team News

Stephen Kenny has called up a squad full of talent for these friendlies, including a returning face. Sammie Szmodics who has scored 27 goals for Blackburn Rovers this season has been given the call up for Ireland along with Caoimhin Kelleher in goal and Evan Ferguson and Adam Idah up front.

Switzerland Team News

Murat Yakin has handed out a number of first time call ups this international break, namely to Vincent Sierro and Dereck Kutesa. Granit Xhaka will also be back to captain the side after an impressive stint at Bayer Leverkusen.

In their last five games in all competitions, Ireland have one win, one draw and three losses.

Idah’s penalty in the fourth minute gave Ireland a shock early lead against the Netherlands but a penalty from Cody Gakpo equalised for the Netherlands before halftime. However, an early second half goal from Wout Weghorst grabbed a 2 - 1 win for the Netherlands.

Another home tie saw Ireland host Greece. Giorgos Giakoumakis and Giorgos Masouras both scored in the first half to give Greece the lead. Despite Ireland having 18 shots with five of them on target, they were unable to find the back of the net as Greece held on for a 2 - 0 win.

Ireland bounced back on their trip to bottom of the group Gibraltar. Ferguson and Michael Johnston both scored in the first half and Matt Dohery and Callum Robinson added goals in the second half for a 4 - 0 win for Ireland.

Another clash against the Netherlands saw another goal from Weghorst. His goal in the 11th minute was the only goal of the game as Ireland only managed one shot on target and slumped to a 1 - 0 loss.

An international friendly saw Ireland host New Zealand. Idah’s goal gave Ireland the 1 - 0 lead at halftime but Matthew Garbett equalised for New Zealand before the hour mark. Neither side could muster up another goal and had to settle for a 1 - 1 draw.

Ireland also take on Belgium in an international friendly on Saturday.

In their last five games in all competitions, Switzerland have one win, three draws and one loss.

In the European Qualifiers, Switzerland hosted Andorra. After a goalless first half, Cedric Itten and Xhaka gave Switzerland the 2 - 0 lead and a 93rd minute penalty from Xherdan Shaqiri wrapped up a 3 - 0 win for Switzerland.

The visit from Belarus saw Shaqiri on the scoresheet to give Switzerland the 1 - 0 lead at halftime. However, Max Ebong, Denis Polyakov and Dmitri Antilevski all scored to give Belarus the 3 - 1 lead with five minutes to go. Manuel Akanji and Zeki Amdouni scored in the 89th minute and 90th minute to grab a 3 - 3 draw for Switzerland.

Ruben Vargas gave Switzerland the lead at halftime but in the 88th minute Shon Weissmann equalised for Israel. Switzerland were then reduced to ten men with Edimilson Fernandes sent off late on in the 1 - 1 draw.

It was another 1 - 1 draw for Switzerland with Vargas on the scoresheet again. The goal for Vargas came early in the second half but an 82nd minute goal from Muhamet Hyseni rescued a 1 - 1 draw for Kosovo.

Denis Alibec scored the only goal of the game in the 50th minute to give Romania the 1 - 0 win over Switzerland.

This fixture has been tightly contested throughout their histories and despite Ireland having the better record, Switzerland are likely to take home the win this week. Republic of Ireland 1-2 Switzerland

Republic of Ireland vs Switzerland will be available to watch on the Peacock Network (An NBC live-streaming Platform)