Coleman won his 79th Republic of Ireland cap in the friendly against North Macedonia.
Published April 1, 2026 • Source: bbc.com
By Lauren McCann BBC Sport NI Journalist
Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has urged Seamus Coleman to continue his international career.
Everton defender Coleman, who has played just 12 minutes in the Premier League this season, won his 79th international cap in Tuesday's 0-0 friendly draw against North Macedonia aged 37 after playing 96 minutes of their heartbreaking World Cup play-off semi-final defeat against Czech Republic.
His children accompanied him as mascots before the game in Dublin and he appeared emotional during the national anthem before he received a standing ovation when substituted, leading to many thinking it was his last appearance in green.
But Hallgrimsson is hoping that Coleman will prolong his international career to enable him to play in Euro 2028, which Republic of Ireland will co-host and refused to entertain talk of him joining the Irish coaching staff if he does retire.
"You ask him. It's his decision, what he's going to do, but we hope, and we told him, we hope he will stay on, and play with us next season, and and hopefully, for the Euros, played in Ireland, that would be a fantastic for him if he would be playing at that time.
"I like to have him as a player.
"He is a good player and shows a good performance game after game at an international level so why should he retire?" he added on RTE.
First training session after Czech defeat 'was awful'
Hallgrimsson admitted that the days between the dispiriting defeat in Prague on Thursday that ended the hopes of a first World Cup appearance in 24 years and attempting to pick his side up to face North Macedonia in a meaningless friendly on Tuesday "were tough", especially with morale low in training.
Troy Parrott had a goal disallowed and hit the post as the Irish were held to a frustrating goalless draw in front of a 39,000-strong crowd, but Hallgrimsson praised his side's character for parking the Czech defeat and going again.
"We gave them the day off, the first day [after the game] for them to go home and spend that day with family, and I think that was the key," he explained.
"Then slowly, we came back, the first session was awful, slow tempo and we were scratching our heads. 'How can we push them? How can we motivate them?'
"But in the end, it was just them doing it themselves, and we felt the energy coming back. It was just nice to see. They left everything on the ground now, and that's what good characters will do, what good professionals will do."