The incredible Ireland team if all eligible footballers declared for them | OneFootball

Highlights

Throughout the history of Irish football, some of the greatest names to pull on the famous green jersey have been born in other countries. Paul McGrath was born in West London. Tony Cascarino was born just outside of Kent. The list goes on and on.

On the flip side of that, there have been many incredibly talented individuals who were eligible to play for the boys in green, but opted not to. Paul Gascoigne and Wayne Rooney are two famous examples.

Even now, the Republic of Ireland could have one of the very best teams in Europe if things had just panned out differently. Whilst using as few current Irish internationals as possible, we have put together a starting XI and a 5-man subs bench of players who chose to turn their backs on the ROI.

Bazunu is one of two players representing Ireland that we have chosen to include in this team. While players like Alex McCarthy could've been an option, Bazunu is in a more commanding position, given that the Englishman plays as the backup to the former Manchester City man at Southampton.

The 21-year-old has amassed 20 caps already in his young career. It is likely that, unless something catastrophic happens, he will be keeping goal for Ireland for plenty of years to come.

Johnson may not be the most recognizable of players on the list, but he is one of several names with an Irish background who featured in the 2022 World Cup. With his mother having Northern Irish heritage, FIFA rules state that this would still make him available for selection for the Republic.

Instead, the 25-year-old, who joined Celtic shortly after the aforementioned World Cup, opted to represent Canada. He has currently made 39 caps for his country, scoring once.

Centre Back: Harry Maguire

For better or for worse, Harry Maguire is one of the most famous men currently in Gareth Southgate's England set-up. Rising to prominence in the 2018 World Cup for his ability to cause havoc at set pieces, the former Manchester United captain has become a mainstay for the Three Lions, even on occasions where it seemed like he shouldn't.

He has rediscovered his best form of late and is putting in performances Irish fans would've marvelled at. His grandparents' links to the country made it a possibility that Maguire could've lined up alongside the likes of Seamus Coleman. In reality, he has gone on to make more than a half-century of appearances in white and blue.

Centre Back: Ethan Ampadu

Deciding to align with Wales, the former Chelsea academy star was once at the centre of a lot of attention regarding his international career. Many were calling for England to incorporate the versatile youngster in their set-up, but according to former coach Paul Tisdale, the FA believed they had better players in the ranks.

Interestingly enough, Ampadu's father did represent Ireland at under 21 level. However, this was never an option for his son. Via the Irish Examiner, the 23-year-old said:

Left Back: Daniel O'Shaughnessy

Take a guess what country Daniel O'Shaughnessy plays for. If you guessed Finland, with the most Irish second name imaginable, then you deserve a round of applause for that serious football knowledge.

Unsurprisingly, the fullback does have Irish stock, with his dad coming from that neck of the woods. However, with a Finnish mother and having grow up in the country, the 29-year-old never considered representing his father's side of the family at international level. Instead, he has featured for the Scandinavians on 22 occasions.

One of the most famous cases on this list, given that Rice has actually played for the Republic of Ireland at senior level. The Arsenal midfielder featured three times in friendly matches. Since they were not competitive games, he was free to make the switch should he want to.

That's exactly what he did in 2019. A year later he became a mainstay in Southgate's England team. This was met with a lot of backlash by Irish fans, especially considering that this was the second time in a very short span that they had faced a similar type of betrayal. Even Gary Neville disagreed with the decision, stating via The Independent:

Central Midfield: James Maddison

Since arriving at Tottenham, Maddison has transformed himself into one of the best players in the Premier League. Before his injury, the former Leicester man was the highest-rated player in the division on Whoscored for the 2023/24 season. He would likely walk straight into the Irish XI if he had chosen to represent them.

In fact, the Irish Independent claims that the FAI tried to get Maddison to change his national allegiance, just like Rice did. In this instance, there was no swaying the creative midfielder, whose mind was already made up.

He is the man the whole world is talking about. Everyone is in awe at how seamlessly this teenager has managed to make the Bernabeu his fortress. So imagine just how beloved he would be if Bellingham had been plying his trade for Stephen Kenny right now.

It was a possibility. Bellingham's father is half-Irish, having said so himself in a tweet he posted in 2020. In fact, there are pictures online of the 19-year-old as a child wearing an Irish football kit. What could've been?

Attacking Midfield: Jack Grealish

Jack Grealish celebrates at the 2022 World Cup

We mentioned earlier that when Rice switched allegiances, it came off the back of another high-profile incident with a player who Irish fans desperately wanted on their side. That man was Grealish.

Whilst the playmaker never featured for Ireland at senior level, he was part of their youth teams as a teenager. He even turned down advances from England in his youth to continue playing in green. This is what made it all the more disappointing when the then-Aston Villa man decided he wasn't going to play for the country at senior level. People understood Grealish's decision a lot more so than they did in Declan Rice's case. That still didn't stop people questioning what the Man City attacker could've produced had he not made the swap.

While there are other options available of players who chose not to represent Ireland, we've decided to include this young man as he has the potential to be one of the best Irish players of all time.

The sky is seemingly the limit for Ferguson, who will hope to emulate what the likes of Robbie Keane were able to do in front of goal for the Irish. If he continues his upward trajectory, he might become an example of someone England fans wish had chosen to represent them instead.

Striker: Harry Kane

England's captain. England's record goalscorer. Most goals in major tournaments. He is pretty much England's golden child. Yet it all could've been so different for the modern-day legend.

With his father born in Galway, Kane was someone who very easily could've been turning out for Ireland had his career not suddenly taken off in the way it did. Imagine if that had been the case. Young Ferguson playing next to and directly learning from one of the best strikers in world football. That would've been an extremely dangerous partnership.

Callum Wilson, Kalvin Phillips, Conor Coady, Conor Gallagher, Thomas Delaney

The bench features a lot of familiar faces. All four of Wilson, Phillips, Coady and Gallagher have all featured for England in at least one major tournament in their career.

Perhaps the most peculiar name is that of Danish international, Thomas Delaney. With Irish heritage on his grandfather's side, Delaney had the choice of Ireland, the United States and Denmark when it came to deciding who to play internationally for. In the end, he chose Denmark and featured in their run to the semi-finals of the 2021 European Championships.