Ireland starlet Evan Ferguson has jokingly admitted that he wouldn't ever be allowed back in the Ferguson family household if he ever dared to swap Ireland's national team for England.
Ferguson has had a stellar Premier League season, scoring six goals. His brace against Southampton last weekend also brought his tally in all competitions to 16 for the season. This tally also included a debut Ireland goal against Latvia back in March.
Fans of the Irish national team truly believe that Ferguson could emulate Ireland's record goalscorer Robbie Keane one day, but there have also been rumors of Ferguson possibly declaring for Gareth Southgate's England in the future.
The 18-year-old forward has an English mother and an Irish father, and due to FIFA's eligibility rules, he still technically can swap green for white.
FIFA's eligibility rules to switch countries are as follows:
- The player held the nationality of their new association at the time of their first official appearance for their first national team.
- The player played in no more than three competitive senior games before the age of 21.
- The player has not played in the final stage of an official tournament such as the World Cup, European Championship, Copa America, etc.
- At least three years have passed since the player's last senior appearance for their previous national team.
❌ England
✅ Republic of Ireland
Evan Ferguson says he wouldn’t be allowed back in the country by his dad if he switched allegiances to his mother’s nationality. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/JdGp9S6U1M— Football Daily (@footballdaily) May 23, 2023
If we go by rule 2, Ferguson has already played against France in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, and if he plays for Ireland again in the games against Greece as well as Gibraltar, that will mean he will play for Ireland for the rest of his international career.
Today, speaking to Sky Sports News, Ferguson eased Irish fans' fears and played down another Jack Grealish and Declan Rice situation happening. Both played for Ireland at underage levels but switched to England, the country of their births. Ferguson was asked about the hypothetical scenario of ditching Ireland and said, "Obviously, my Mam's English, so that's where it probably comes in."
"I've seen a few saying, 'Oh, will he? Will he?' I can tell you now, it's a no," added the Meath native.
He then went on to say that his father Barry would disapprove of any switch. "I wouldn't be allowed back!"
It's fair to say that fans of the Irish team can rest easy after those comments.
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