The Ireland national cerebral palsy football team represents the Republic of Ireland in men's international cerebral palsy (CP) football. They have participated in several Paralympic Games and World Championships. They have won two bronze medals and a silver at the Paralympics. Their best finish at the World Championships was first at the 1982 edition in Denmark.
Background
Paralympics Ireland manages the national team. Paralympics Ireland, Sport Ireland and the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) co-fund the cerebral palsy national team. The team is known as Ireland in competition as the International Paralympic Committee and IFCPF follow standard United Nations naming protocols. This differs from FIFA and UEFA competitions, which strictly mandate the name "Republic of Ireland" to distinguish them from Northern Ireland. In 2011, members of the Irish national team participated in a study that looking at endurance and running performance as part of a researcher's efforts to understand the fairness of cerebral palsy football classification. In October 2014, an IFCPF coaching workshop was held in Wales to try to further develop the sport, with participants from Wales, England and the Republic of Ireland. While Ireland was active in participating on the Paralympic and World Championship level by 2016, the country did not have a national championships to support national team player development.
In 2016, after getting an endorsement by the World AntiDoping Agency (WADA), the IFCPF Anti-Doping Code was formally amended to allow for out of competition testing. This was done through a WADA approved Whereabouts Programme managed through ADAMS. Drawing from players in a Registered Testing Pool, players from this country were included ahead of the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio.
Ranking
Ireland was ranked fifth in the world by the IFCPF in 2016. In September 2012, August 2013 and November 2014, the team was ranked number seven in the world. In July 2011, the team was ranked sixth in the world.
As of February 2026, the team is ranked eighth in the world.
Players Current squad The following players were called up for the 2025 European Championships.
Former players There have been a number of players for the Ireland squad. NameNumberDomestic ClassificationPositionYears activeRefDaragh Byrne5FT7Midfielder2012Peter Cotter11FT7Forward2012Kieran Devlin2FT7Defender2012Luke Evans4FT7Midfielder2012Simon L'Strange16FT6Goalkeeper2012Gary Messett7FT7Midfielder2012, 2014Joseph Markey3FT7Defender2012Brian McGillivary1FT5Goalkeeper2012Eric O'Flaherty8FT7Defender2012Finbar O'Riorden6FT7Defender2012Daragh Snell9FT7Forward2012Aaron Tier12FT5Forward2012
Results
Ireland has participated in a number of international tournaments. CompetitionLocationYearTotal TeamsResultRefPre-Paralympic TournamentSalou, Spain201675Northern European Open ChampionshipDenmark201542Euro Football 7-a-sideMaia, Portugal2014114Intercontinental CupBarcelona, Spain201316Ireland CP International TournamentIreland201342012 Paralympic World CupLondon, England20124Nottingham British Paralympic World CupNottingham, England20104CPISRA International ChampionshipsArnhem, Netherlands200911Nations CupLilleshall, England20094
IFCPF World Championships The Republic of Ireland has participated in the IFCPF World Championships. At the 2011 CP-ISRA World Championship in Drenthe, Ireland beat Canada 6 - 0. World ChampionshipsLocationTotal TeamsResultRef2015 IFCPF World ChampionshipsEngland1562011 CPSIRA World ChampionshipsNetherlands1691994 CPISRA World ChampionshipsDublin, Ireland21990 CPISRA World ChampionshipsAssen, Netherlands21986 CPISRA World ChampionshipsGits, Belgium31982 CPISRA World ChampionshipsGreve, Denmark1
Paralympic Games
Ireland has participated in 7-a-side football at the Paralympic Games. Their best performance was at the 1992 and 1984 Games when they won silver medals. They also won a bronze at the 1988 Games. After qualifying for the gold medal game in the sport's debut at the 1984 Summer Games, they lost their match to Belgium to finish with a silver medal.
Paralympic Results GamesResultsRef2016 Summer Paralympics82008 Summer Paralympics62004 Summer Paralympics71996 Summer Paralympics1992 Summer Paralympics31988 Summer Paralympics31984 Summer Paralympics2
References