Séamus Coleman to Sit Out UEFA Nations League Matches

Séamus Coleman plans to keep pulling on the green of Ireland – just not this month.

The veteran defender, released by Everton at the end of last season after 17 years at Goodison Park, asked to sit out the upcoming UEFA Nations League window as he remains without a club, Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson revealed.

Coleman, 38 next month, has been training alone since leaving Merseyside and has yet to secure a new deal, a situation mirrored by international team-mate Robbie Brady. Both were missing when Hallgrimsson named his squad on Thursday for the opening four Nations League fixtures.

According to the manager, that was Coleman's call.

Coleman steps aside – for now

"My intention, in whatever shape or form that will be, he will be with us in the future, hopefully as a player. His intention is to play, he is keeping fit but he hasn't been training with a club or with a team," Hallgrimsson said, confirming that Coleman and Brady are actively looking for new clubs.

"We felt, together, it was more his decision that it was appropriate he would sit out this one. Mostly because he felt it was unfair to other players that he would be picked at this moment."

No farewell, no retirement speech. Just a captain choosing not to take a place he feels should go to someone fully in-season. Hallgrimsson, though, clearly sees him as part of Ireland’s plans once his club future is resolved.

Injury picture: Collins out, Ferguson and Cullen edging closer

If Coleman’s omission was about fairness, Nathan Collins’ absence was inevitable. The Brentford defender picked up a calf injury earlier this month and was never in contention for this window.

Hallgrimsson expects him to be back in Premier League action once the international break is over.

More encouraging for Ireland is the sight of two long-term absentees moving closer to a return. Evan Ferguson and Josh Cullen have not featured for their country since November 2025, the Brighton striker sidelined by ankle problems and the Burnley midfielder recovering from a cruciate knee ligament injury.

"They will probably start training on the grass with (their club teams) after the FIFA window sometime. So maybe next camp is their time," Hallgrimsson said, hinting that November could finally see both back in green.

Lawal called in despite injury

Bosun Lawal is in the squad, even though he is currently injured. The Stoke City player, capped once at senior level, is not expected to play a major role in this window, but Hallgrimsson made it clear how highly he rates him.

"He is injured at the moment, but we still rate him that highly," he said.

"We still want him in the camp, being with us and around us. I don't expect him to play much.

"But we are in collaboration with Stoke City, just to see how much he can do and will load him and hopefully he can take some part in the end of this camp.

"But we rate him that highly that we think it is necessary for him to be around the squad."

For Lawal, this camp is about proximity, not minutes – an investment in a player Ireland see as part of their future spine.

Israel fixtures cast a shadow

On the pitch, Ireland open their Nations League campaign away to Kosovo in Pristina next Thursday. After that, the calendar turns contentious.

The second group game will be the first of two fixtures against Israel, both designated for neutral venues – one in Hungary, the other in Serbia. The political backdrop has made those matches deeply uncomfortable for many involved.

Hallgrimsson chose to address that privately, not in a team huddle.

"I have spoken to all of them individually on that, because you shouldn't be doing this (in) a group talk," he said.

"And obviously we have different opinions, different strength of opinion. I think it's best to say, without going into individual (situations), none of us feel comfortable playing these games.

"But once we have decided to play them, we all stick together and play as one, and we want to represent Ireland with the best games and performances that we can.

"So that's just that's the agreement between all of us. But obviously, we don't have to all share the same opinion, and that's just human nature."

Discomfort acknowledged, unity demanded. The games will go ahead, and Ireland will play them under a cloud they did not create.

Momentum meets a new Nations League landscape

Away from the politics, Hallgrimsson is determined not to let Ireland’s recent form slip. His team arrive at this window unbeaten in seven, conceding fewer goals and trending upwards in the performance data the staff pore over.

UEFA’s decision to restructure the Nations League – cutting the competition from four tiers to three – means League B sides like Ireland no longer face the same threat of automatic relegation to League C. The safety net is bigger, but Hallgrimsson is not treating this as a free hit.

"(There are) lots of reasons why we want to do really well in these Nations League matches," he said.

"Again, the importance of this moment, these games, we are on a good run, we are on a positive spiral, we (would) like to keep that going, (and) have not lost in the last seven matches. Long may that continue.

"We are conceding less goals and all the metrics that we are using to kind of look at how our performance is improving."

So Ireland head into a fraught, politically charged window with an unbeaten run to protect, key players on the mend, and their long-serving leader waiting in the wings for a new club and, he hopes, another chapter in green.