Day of reckoning for favourite second (or third) teams
What we’re watching - Bellingham magic for England & flags
Five2Follow - today’s developing stories
13 June 2026; Ciara O'Neill of Peamount United, 16, celebrates with teammates after scoring her side's first goal during the Women’s All-Island Cup quarter-final match between Shamrock Rovers and Peamount United at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile
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Birthday boy Pico Lopes and Cape Verde are officially our team at the World Cup finals - WNN says so
Cathal Dervan, Editor
Happy Birthday Pico Lopes. And here’s your present from the nation - recognition by Waterford Whispers News. So welcome to the wonderful world of Irish satire as practised by the finest in the business and on the day we get England and Declan Rice in our sights again.
On Monday evening, Irish time, the Shamrock Rovers captain was one of the stars of the show as Cape Verde marked their World Cup debut with a backs to the wall scoreless draw against European champions Spain.
It was a brilliant performance from the Crumlin native and his team-mates from the Atlantic ocean archipelago, the sort of story that separates the World Cup from your regular big sports events.
And he made headlines across the world, did our Pico with everyone from James Corden to Gary Lineker discussing how he became a Cape Verde international from Dublin 12.
Pico even drew the attention of Waterford Whispers News, the irreverent social media phenomenon that likes to take the piss out of Irish life.
Like the Phoenix magazine, Ireland’s Private Eye which sadly announced its closure this week after 43 years keeping solicitors business, WWN takes no prisoners on one hand. On the other hand, if you make it onto their feed then you can rightly claim to have made it in Irish life.
So well done Pico for your WWN arrival on Monday night, two days before your 34th birthday which will be celebrated on the seashore in Tampa with a squad who will never have heard of Waterford never mind this online satire outlet.
They won’t know that WWN are taking the mickey with their photo, attached, and the headline: ‘Ireland (Specifically Pico Lopes) Secure Historic Draw Against Spain’, in honour of that 0-0 draw with one of the tournament favourites on Monday.
Any Irishman or woman with half a football bone in their body will laugh at the humour, all the time aware that we are more than happy to claim Pico as Ireland’s World Cup representative this summer.
What else can we do? Prague ended our interest in the tournament so we can follow Cape Verde, adopt the Scots as our team and enrol in the ABE club one again - with membership of ABR thrown in for good measure.
That’s Anyone But England. And Anyone But Rice. Declan Rice. Once of this parish but dead to us now ever since he told Mick McCarthy to stick his Ireland shirt up his jumper and jumped ship to England.
Declan is a regular on WWN. We like to laugh at him and we like to laugh at his team. We will be smiling smugly on Wednesday evening when they begin their World Cup adventure against Croatia in Dallas.
And we will be wishing Croatia well, hoping that a 40-year-old Luka Modric can extend the 60 years of hurt for at least another 90 minutes. The Dublin Airport social media crew will probably even get in a dig or two at England if they lose tonight or, God forbid, miss another World Cup penalty.
To be honest, I’m starting to wonder if it is time to relax on the ABE stuff? Sure it’s fun, but I’m two years older than their World Cup anguish and it is starting to feel a bit dated seeing as how every single one of us in Ireland has a relation who is working or has worked in England, who is living or has lived in England. I’ve done it myself on at least three occasions for reasons of employment and they were always nice to me.
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Yes, we have 800 reasons to hate the English but that is well and truly history now, just like their World Cup failures.
Maybe we should cut them some slack today - or at least try to even briefly before their big kick-off in Texas.
So let’s adopt an Englishman for a day. Or 11 of them. And let’s wish them well on their World Cup journey and acknowledge that they got there on merit - we couldn’t even get there on penalties!
Let’s make England our third team at the World Cup - after Cape Verde and Scotland!
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It's World Cup Wednesday as the World Cup dinosaurs Rob Shepherd and Cathal Dervan discuss everything from England's opening game against Croatia to Gazza, David Platt, Con Houlihan, hydration breaks and quick throw-ins to Gianni Infantino's latest failure to read the room.
or listen to the full episode on our Spotify channel
Follow us on socials (X here or insta here) to get the latest from the World Cup giraffes!
The key stories developing today
Just as Declan Rice prepares to kick-off his 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with England, so Roy Keane has had another pop at the player’s Ireland past - and reminded Gary Neville that the Arsenal midfielder once kissed the Irish badge on his shirt.
Rice will be vice-captain when England take on Croatia in Dallas on Wednesday, his second appearance at a World Cup finals with the land of his birth.
But former Irish assistant Keane hasn’t forgotten - or even forgiven - the fact that Rice made three international appearances for Ireland before he switched allegiances in 2019.
Assistant to Martin O’Neill when Rice appeared in those three friendlies, Keane brought the player’s history up again on the Stick To Football podcast ahead of the game in Dallas.
The Irish Sun reports that as Gary Neville and Ian Wright discussed the best England team from different generations, they both included Rice in their selections.
Then Neville ‘teased’ Keane according to the report when he said: “You’re just a bit upset still because he didn’t choose Ireland, aren’t you?”
But Keane hit back by stating: “No, he did choose Ireland. He played for Ireland, so he did choose them. He changed his mind. He did play for them, he kissed the badge as well in one game.”
He may have missed out on the Celtic job as Martin O’Neill signed on for another year at Parkhead but Robbie Keane could yet return to management in Scotland - with Hearts.
Rangers are set to bring Derek McInnes from Easter Road to Ibrox as replacement for Danny Rohl with Keane now installed as one of the favourites to take over Hearts according to the Scottish Sun.
The paper reports that Keane is one of the top three candidates to land the job according to the bookies with Dutch duo Rene Hake and Dick Schreuder just ahead of him in the markers.
Keane, who held talks with Dermot Desmond around the Celtic job but drew fierce criticism from some supporters over his time in Israel, is in the market for a new job after leaving Fernencvaros in Hungary at the end of the season.
Hake previously managed FC Twente and Go Ahead Eagles and worked as an assistant with Manchester United and Feyenoord while Schreuder guided NEC Nijmegen to third place in the Eredivisie.
The FAI’s decision to move the Nations League game against Israel to a neutral venue has hit the headlines again with the SIPTU trade union pledging to support any workers who refuse to work at the game.
Mark McCadden in the Irish Mirror reports that Siptu represents workers in broadcasting, transport and the FAI.
Siptu Deputy General Secretary, Greg Ennis, said: “Moving these fixtures from Dublin to a neutral venue behind closed doors does not resolve the issue.
“It merely moves the Palestinian picket line out of sight. Our position is clear - don’t pass that picket line in Dublin, in Hungary or anywhere else.
“Siptu will stand with any member, or group of members, who refuses to assist in the staging, transport, broadcasting or servicing of these fixtures.”
Shamrock Rovers will play Maltese side Floriana in the first round of Champions League qualifying - a game already dubbed as the Roddy Collins derby on Twitter after he worked as manager with both clubs.
Stephen Bradley’s side will enjoy home advantage for the second leg next month following the draw in Switzerland on Friday, as reported by RTE Sport.
Derry City will play Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia in the Europa League first round while Bohemians will face St Joseph’s of Gibraltar in the first round of the UEFA Conference League.
Former Ireland striker David McGoldrick will play on for another season after agreeing a one-year deal with Nigel Clough’s Mansfield Town.
BBC Sport reports that Mansfield will be the 12th club that McGoldrick will play for after he turned down the offer of a new deal at Barnsley. McGoldrick has scored almost 200 goals in nearly 680 appearances in his professional career.
“The quality that he possesses in the final third was the main reason we pursued him,” said Clough.
