Jamie McGrath determined to join Hibs team mates at World Cup

Hibs midfielder Jamie McGrath is determined to join his team mates at the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada. 

The Meath man’s performances for Hibs means that he is likely to play his way into the Ireland squad ahead of the play-offs in March. 

Both Ireland and Scotland are set to have big years on the pitch in 2026, with the two nations gearing up for their most consequential fixtures in quite some time. 

The Scots have already booked their place at this summer’s World Cup, making their first appearance at the tournament since 1998. They have been drawn in a group alongside Haiti, Morocco, and Brazil. 

Ireland will be hoping to join them at the tournament. Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side will face Czechia in March, then taking on either Denmark or North Macedonia for a place at the World Cup if they can win that first fixture. 

With 13 senior caps to his name, McGrath’s last international appearance came as a sub in the 2-1 win away to Finland in October 2024. 

He was omitted from the group for the first four qualifiers due to injury, but was drafted in along with JCeltic’s ohnny Kenny as a late call-up for the unforgettable November window, in place of Mark Sykes and Evan Ferguson. 

He had to settle, however, for the role of unused substitute in the wins against Portugal and Hungary, which earned Ireland a dramatic World Cup play-off spot in March. 

In the meantime, he has been winning countless plaudits from Hibs fans for his displays since his summer switch. 

The Hibs star’s first major tour­na­ment memory was in the pub with his fam­ily aged of FIVE as Mick Mccarthy’s squad was elim­in­ated by Spain in South Korea. 

Mcgrath, 29, said: “My first memory watch­ing the World Cup was in 2002 with my dad in the pub as Ire­land lost to Spain on pen­al­ties (after 1-1 draw). 

“When Rob­bie Keane equal­ised for Ire­land, every­body in the Cozy Corner jumped and hit the roof and all the dust came down from the ceil­ing. 

“So to have half a chance to play at a World Cup Finals is unbe­liev­able. I was delighted to be part of the trip, although a bit dis­ap­poin­ted not to get minutes. 

“Every­body kind of wrote us off, but we did the unthink­able. And the man­ner in which we did it made it so spe­cial. It was something I could never for­get.”  

“Obvi­ously we all saw Scot­land’s game against Den­mark. It’s great to have Scot­land at the World Cup. If we can join them there, it will be great to have both sets of fans there. 

“It’ll be tough, though, against the Czechs. But play­ing for Ire­land is what I dreamed of as a boy and I’ve been lucky enough to do it.” 

If McGrath make it to the World Cup he could see some familiar faces. 

Grant Hanley, Josh Mulligan and Kieron Bowie hope to be included in Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad, Junior Hoilett hopes to play for host nation Canada, Martin Boyle and Jack Iredale aim to be there with the Socceroos, and Rocky Bushiri is likely to be included in the DR Conga squad should they qualify via the play-offs.