Dawson Devoy Leads Ireland in Canada Test

Heimir Hallgrimsson has ripped up Thursday’s winning team sheet and gone bold in Montreal, handing the armband to Bohemians playmaker Dawson Devoy and a first senior start to 18-year-old Jaden Umeh for tonight’s friendly against World Cup co-hosts Canada.

This is not a token gesture. It is a statement.

Devoy, fresh from domestic duty and absent from the victory over Qatar at Aviva Stadium, walks straight into central midfield alongside Conor Coventry. At 24, he becomes the first current League of Ireland player to feature for the senior side since Jack Byrne in November 2020 – a rare and pointed nod to the domestic game on a night when Ireland step into a hostile North American setting.

Umeh’s rise is even sharper. The Benfica winger only dipped his toe into senior international waters as a second-half substitute in that Qatar win. Now he is thrown the keys from the start at Saputo Stadium, operating in support of Troy Parrott with Chiedozie Ogbene patrolling the opposite flank. Youth, pace, and a licence to be brave.

Behind them, the reshuffle continues. Corrie Ndaba, another who tasted his first senior minutes against Qatar, is trusted from the off at left wing-back. He slots into a five-man back line that has a familiar anchor in captain Nathan Collins, flanked by Séamus Coleman, Jake O'Brien and James Abankwah. For Abankwah, this is cap number four, another step in a quietly accelerating international education.

Mark Travers takes over in goal, with established number one Caoimhín Kelleher one of several players granted the night off after Thursday’s exertions. Hallgrimsson has clearly decided this window is for experimentation as much as results, even with a marquee opponent and a late 12.45am kick-off back home in Ireland.

Canada, co-hosts of the next World Cup and eager to flex their muscles on home soil, roll out a strong side. Maxime Crepeau starts in goal behind a back line of Alistair Johnston, Luc de Fougerolles, Derek Cornelius and Richie Laryea. The midfield carries real bite and craft: captain Stephen Eustaquio anchors alongside Ismael Kone, with Tajon Buchanan and Liam Millar providing width and incision. Up front, the proven pairing of Jonathan David and Cyle Larin offers a serious examination for Ireland’s reworked defence.

For Devoy, for Umeh, for Ndaba and Abankwah, this is more than a friendly. It is a night to prove they belong under the lights, against elite opposition, with a World Cup on the horizon and places in Hallgrimsson’s long-term plans very much up for grabs.