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Heimir Hallgrimsson has warned the Republic of Ireland they will need to be better than they were in Nations League victory over Finland if they want to qualify for the 2026 World Cup finals.<\/p>\n
Evan Ferguson\u2019s header secured a 1-0 win over the Finns, who they beat 2-1 in Helsinki last month, to send Ireland into Sunday\u2019s final League B2 fixture against England \u2013 3-0 winners in Greece \u2013 at Wembley on a high.<\/p>\n
However, they needed Caoimhin Kelleher\u2019s second-half penalty save to preserve their clean sheet, while Finland also hit the woodwork.<\/p>\n
Hallgrimsson said: \u201cWe are not jumping for joy today, I think we could have done much better than we did. Obviously it was enough to win and that is a good thing.<\/p>\n
We’re under no illusion we need to improve<\/p>\n
Republic of Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we know we need to work a lot as a unit, as a group to progress because if we want to qualify for the World Cup, we need to beat teams that are higher-ranked than us and get points from them, and I would say with this performance, we probably wouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it was enough today and that\u2019s good, and we\u2019ll build on that. It\u2019s good to have a win for the spirit and I think these players need to experience that as often as they can.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we\u2019re under no illusion we need to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Ferguson\u2019s goal \u2013 a close-range header from Mikey Johnston\u2019s inch-perfect cross \u2013 proved decisive, it would not have had Kelleher not dived to his right to keep out substitute Joel Pohjanpalo\u2019s second-half penalty, awarded for handball against Ferguson after a VAR review.<\/p>\n
That provided the Liverpool keeper with sweet redemption after his error in Athens last month handed Greece a second goal to kill off Ireland\u2019s chances of snatching a draw.<\/p>\n
Hallgrimsson said: \u201cHe really answered for that today. His all-round performance was really good and I\u2019m so happy, really happy with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaoimhin, of course, is playing really well at this stage in is career. He\u2019s not conceding goals at his club and I hope he\u2019s going to bring that to Ireland as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hallgrimsson and his players will head for London with six points from their five fixtures to date and knowing they will finish third in the table regardless of what happens at Wembley, where England need to match Greece\u2019s result in Finland to ensure their return to League A.<\/p>\n
Asked if the game represented a free hit, the Icelander said: \u201cI think even though it\u2019s maybe not fully deserve to go with a clean sheet, it gives us a certain confidence going into the England game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Opposite number Markku Kanerva was left to reflect on what might have been as events in Dublin conspired against his team.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cOf course we are not satisfied with the result. We played OK, but that\u2019s not enough, We didn\u2019t score. We had good chances, missed a penalty, a couple of shots against the post and it\u2019s small margins which decides it today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sign up to Miguel Delaney\u2019s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel\u2019s Delaney\u2019s free weekly newsletter Sign up to Miguel\u2019s Delaney\u2019s free weekly newsletter I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our\u00a0privacy policy Heimir Hallgrimsson has warned the Republic of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n