Evan Ferguson and Mikey Johnston to miss World Cup if Ireland qualify

Gavin Cooney

EVAN FERGUSON AND MIKEY Johnston will likely miss the 2026 World Cup should Ireland qualify. Both players have undergone ankle surgeries and Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson says both are expected to miss between four and six months of action. 

Both were naturally absent from the 25-man squad named yesterday by Hallgrimsson for next Thursday’s World Cup play-off with Czechia in Prague, with Ireland needing to win that game and a subsequent home clash with either Denmark or North Macedonia on 31 March to qualify for the World Cup. 

Seamus Coleman was included in the squad despite the fact he last played for Everton on 24 November last year, but Hallgrimsson says he trusts Coleman having come to agree that his omitting the defender from the squad for last September’s games with Hungary and Armenia was a mistake. 

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“He proved me wrong”, said Hallgrimsson. “He was ready when I was doubting him.” 

Robbie Brady has been similarly included in the squad in spite of his lack of playing time of late: the Preston defender missed all of the World Cup qualifying campaign with a calf injury and has hardly kicked a ball all season, accruing 34 minutes across two substitute appearances in the last month. 

“It’s always better to see him playing”, said Hallgrimsson of Brady, whom he hopes can shake off ring-rust as easily as Coleman.  “Whether 10-15 minutes would make the difference? I don’t think so. Hopefully he will be the same as Seamus, and he was probably our best player in the last campaign in the Nations League, it has been quite a long time since he played. It is in the back of my mind that I have been proven wrong once so hopefully he can do it again.

“We know his mentality will overcome a lot. I know not playing for a long time has been in his head, he was crying to lose out on the last matches, but he was as delighted as the rest of the players that we won. He is like Seamus: a genuine Irish person who lives and dreams for the national team.”

Hallgrimsson has no concerns of Chiedozie Ogbene’s lack of action for Sheffield United: Ogbene has been relegated to the U21 squad because of the Blades’ exceeding the quota of loan players permitted in Championship matchday squads. The Ireland boss is taking comfort from Ogbene’s physical stats, and also his outlook on life. “He is”, explained Hallgrimsson, “an optimistic dude.” 

There are no such concerns about Troy Parrott, who has now scored 32 goals for club and country this season. 

“It was a big challenge to do what he did [in November] and continue, and he has done it”, said Hallgrimsson of his striker. “It was tough in the weeks afterwards in AZ, everyone expected him to score three goals in every game, and that is a heavy backpack to carry. I think he is now relaxing, and enjoying and scoring and hopefully he is coming in to us at the correct moment again.” Parrott has to navigate another two games for AZ – against Sparta Prague in the Conference League and Gronigen in the Dutch league – before reporting for Irish duty. 

Things have been less plain sailing for captain Nathan Collins, who has spent some time on the Brentford bench in spite of the fact he is club captain. Hallgrimsson is seeing only positives. 

“I think this is a good moment for him to grow. He played every minute of every game for Brentford in the last year, so it is an unusual decision, especially when you are in the captain and it is new for him, but for growth it is a good moment for him. He is back in the team. You always learn and grow, and every setback is a possibility to become better.”