The Dublin–Galway rivalry is a Gaelic football rivalry between Irish county teams Dublin and Galway, who first played each other in 1902. Dublin's home ground is Parnell Park and Galway's home ground is Pearse Stadium, however, all but one of their championship meetings have been held at neutral venues, usually Croke Park.
With Galway having the highest number of Connacht titles and Dublin the standard bearers in Leinster, they have both enjoyed success in the All-Ireland level. Dublin and Galway have the second and third highest number of All-Ireland titles to their names respectively.
The teams have faced each other in the final on multiple occasions, with their first ever meeting coming in the 1922 final. They next met in the semi-final of the 1933 Championship, with Galway emerging victorious in Mullingar's Cusack Park. The following year's final saw the two meet again, with Galway coming out on top. The two sides next met in further finals over the following decades, facing off in 1942, 1963 and 1974 with Dublin victorious on each occasion.
The rivalry reached its nadir in the 1983 final, also known as the "Game of Shame" which was infamous for its levels of thuggery, seeing four red cards, as Dublin won by two points. The game has been described as "sour and violent" with a "poisonous atmosphere" in the crowd. They did not meet in the Championship again for 35 years, and when the teams next faced each other in the All-Ireland semi-final in 2018, Dublin emerged victorious before marching on to secure their fourth All-Ireland title in a row.
Galway ended a 90-year wait for a victory over Dublin in 2024 with a one point win over the reigning champions in the quarter final. Despite losing their captain Seán Kelly and all-star forward Shane Walsh to injuries, Galway took the lead with two minutes remaining and held on for a famous win. This Galway win reinvigorated the rivalry and the teams would meet again the following year in Salthill. This time Dublin edged it with a one point win. The two sides would meet for the third year in a row in the 2016 All-Ireland quarter-final when Dublin emerged the victors by a 4 point margin, 1-25 to 1-21
Senior results
Legend
Dublin winGalway winMatch was a draw
Championship +Dublin vs GalwayDateVenueScoreCompetition7 October 1923Croke Park, Dublin0-6 – 0-4All-Ireland Final20 August 1933Cusack Park, Mullingar0-8 – 1-4All-Ireland Semi-Final23 September 1934Croke Park, Dublin3-5 – 1-9All-Ireland Final20 September 1942Croke Park, Dublin1-10 – 1-8All-Ireland Final17 August 1958Croke Park, Dublin2-7 – 1-9All-Ireland Semi-Final22 September 1963Croke Park, Dublin1-9 – 0-10All-Ireland Final22 September 1974Croke Park, Dublin0-14 – 1-6All-Ireland Final29 August 1976Croke Park, Dublin1-8 – 0-8All-Ireland Semi-Final18 September 1983Croke Park, Dublin1-10 – 1-8All-Ireland Final11 August 2018Croke Park, Dublin1-24 – 2-12All-Ireland Semi-Final29 June 2024Croke Park, Dublin0-17 – 0-16All-Ireland Quarter-Final17 May 2025Pearse Stadium, Galway1-18 – 2-14Round Robin Stage28 June 2026Pearse Stadium, Galway1-25 – 1-21All-Ireland Quarter-Final
References