‘God Save the King’ mistakenly played in Republic of Ireland national anthem blunder | OneFootball

The wrong anthem was played before the Republic of Ireland U19 Women played Sweden in Bulgaria

The Republic of Ireland U19 Women’s team sang an a capella version of their national anthem after ‘God Save the King’ was played by mistake.

Republic of Ireland national anthem blunder

The national anthem mix-up came before the Republic of Ireland played Sweden in a European Championship qualifying game, which was held in Albena, Bulgaria.

As the sides lined up, the stadium announcer declared that the national anthem of the Republic of Ireland would be played.

However, Irish players were left confused when Amhran na bhFiann was not played over the loudspeakers.

Instead, ‘God Save the King’ was played, bringing out immediate shouts of disapproval from the crowd.

The anthem was stopped after 12 seconds, and was followed by 30 seconds of awkward silence, as the Irish players looked at each other in confusion.

With no sign that the right anthem was set to be played, Ireland players, coaches and fans in attendance belted out an a capella version of Amhran na bhFiann.

Irish fans on social media reacted with pride, as one commented: “No stopping the Irish when it comes to national pride.”

Another wrote on X: “MP3 file missing. They found a solution, well done.”

There was also some anger over the mistake as one person tweeted: “Total disrespect, no excuse,” while another commented, “That is unacceptable, Bulgaria”.

Republic of Ireland U19 team suffer defeat to Sweden

The Republic of Ireland’s U19 team ultimately fell to a 3-1 defeat to Sweden. However, the young Irish squad put in a spirited effort against a Sweden side with more experience.

The average age of the Irish team was 17, with an attack all 17 years old or younger.

Ella Lundin scored for the Swedes after four minutes and doubled her tally before the hour mark.

Treaty United’s Katie Lawlee gave Ireland hope of a comeback, before a late goal from Agnes Ekberg secured the three points for Sweden.

The Republic of Ireland will again play in Albena, Bulgaria, on Saturday against Poland. The Republic of Ireland will hope that the correct national anthem is found in time for that clash.

Meanwhile, the senior team that secured promotion in the Nations League, will face Hungary in a friendly on Saturday.

Previous anthem blunders

It is not the first time there has been an issue with the Republic of Ireland’s national anthem.

Ireland’s supporters were frustrated after ITV incorrectly subtitled the words of Ireland’s Call, which is played at rugby matches, instead of the national anthem back in 2017.

Meanwhile, the Italian national anthem was played before a GAA match between Cork and Clare in the same year.

Many other countries have fallen to similar wrong anthem incidents. In November 2023, the Swedish national anthem was played in place of Belgium before a Euro 2024 qualifying match with Azerbaijan.

Kick-off was also delayed before a Euro 2020 match between Albania and France, when the former side refused to play until the correct anthem was played, after the national anthem of Andorra was instead played over the loudspeakers.