Yesterday, it was announced that Ireland's star forward, Evan Ferguson, would miss the double-header against France and the Netherlands this month due to a knee injury. A host of conspiracy theories emerged around Ferguson's desire to play for England.
The 18-year-old, who scored a hat-trick in Brighton & Hove Albion's 3-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday, has seen his stock in world football grow significantly. He had joined the Ireland camp for the Euro 2024 qualifiers but has since been ruled out with a knee injury.
A statement from the FAI read, "Republic of Ireland striker Evan Ferguson has been ruled out of the two UEFA EURO 2024 qualifiers against France and the Netherlands.
"The Brighton and Hove Albion forward sustained a knee injury in the 3-0 win over Newcastle United on Saturday. Ferguson reported for international duty on Sunday, but after assessment from the Ireland medical team, Ferguson has been ruled out of both fixtures."
Shortly after the news was confirmed by the FAI, rumors of Ferguson attempting to switch from Ireland to England began to emerge. Ferguson, who was born in Bettystown, Meath, Ireland, has an Irish father and an English mother.
According to FIFA's eligibility rule change from 2020, "Players can now switch national teams provided they were eligible to represent a second country at the time they first played for their first country, even if they have played in an official competition for the first nation. This applies as long as they have played no more than three matches (including friendlies), none of the matches were in the final tournament of the FIFA World Cup or confederation competition, and they all happened before the player turned 21."
This hasn't stopped people from thinking the switch could still happen.
Ireland has lost the likes of former Ireland underage stars Declan Rice and Jack Grealish to England, but both were born and raised in England, while Ferguson's upbringing is the opposite.
Evan Ferguson has been ruled out of the Republic of Ireland squad due to injury 🤕🇮🇪
According to reports, he's still eligible to switch to England due to playing only three competitive games for Ireland, under FIFA's new eligibility laws 👀🏴
Surely not another player will… pic.twitter.com/xP8z7GFLYh— SPORTbible (@sportbible) September 5, 2023
A product of League of Ireland side Bohemians, Ferguson has come through the academy and made the move to England to progress his career with Brighton.
After the FAI confirmed he would not feature in Ireland's games this week, fears that Ferguson could switch from green to white only grew with the news released yesterday.
A host of people on social media jumped to the conclusion that Ferguson wasn't actually injured and that Gareth Southgate and his team had convinced the Ireland star to declare for England.
One Twitter user said, "He should play for what he feels he is. If he feels Irish, he should play for Ireland. Simple. Unfortunately, agents will be in his ear about finances, and playing for England will bring greater finances. See Grealish and Rice." Another said, "We should be doing everything in our power, if possible, to get him to switch over. There’s your long-term Kane replacement at the international level."
While a vast majority of people offered a different take and quashed reports that he would even consider playing for England.
"My favorite part of this is all the replies saying he will win something with England. He's about as likely to play for England as he is to travel back in time to 1966 for the World Cup, lads." While another said, "The Rice/Grealish comparison is dumb because Ferguson actually is Irish. Grealish and Rice never were."
Fans of the Irish national team can also rest easy because of previous comments made by Ferguson himself. The Meath native claimed his dad would never let him come home if he ever did decide to play for England.
Ferguson has been asked about the prospect of switching allegiances to England before in an interview with Sky Sports and said: "That's not gonna happen, no.
"My mam is English, so that's where the tie comes in. But I've seen a few saying oh, will he? Will he? But I can tell you now it's a no."
Presenter Melissa Reddy then said: "I don't think your Dad would let you."
To which Ferguson said "I wouldn't be allowed back."
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