National Forum

Football Championship 2026

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Replying To gunman:  "The way the provincial draws are this year the real winners are Kerry,Cork,Galway and Meath who have handy runs to their respective finals.There is real jeporady for Donegal,Armagh,Tyrone,Dublin,Louth,Mayo and Roscommon.Not reaching the final could have serious consequences for the season."
Think munster seeded to keep cork and Kerry apart, so ideal format for them.

Expertinall (UK) - Posts: 22 - 11/04/2026 15:59:55    2665760

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Replying To suckvalleypaddy:  "For me it's dead even between Armagh, Kerry and Donegal at this moment in time. Other potential contenders have bits and pieces to sort out."
What has Armagh got to be contenders over your own Galway. For me Armagh have lots to sort out themselves. Shooting efficiency needs improving and work to do defensively

Gaa_lover (USA) - Posts: 3904 - 11/04/2026 19:46:03    2665802

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Replying To legendzxix:  "Unbeaten provincial winners should be able to avoid each other until the All Ireland semi finals. It's the part of the new championship structure I dislike. It just takes a simple tweak to fix:
There already can't be a repeat of provincial finals. Unbeaten provincial winners should be kept apart in Round 2A. One small tweak like that would keep unbeaten provincial winners apart until the semi finals.
Like other matters, it might take Donegal v Roscommon and Kerry v Dublin in Round 2A from these predictions for such a change to be made. I know there's some desire for the championship to be a blunt instrument but having unbeaten provincial winners clash before All Ireland semi finals is wrong."
You want Kerry to have a handy run as always to an All Ireland semi final.
You afraid ye might have to start training a bit earlier?

Scenicparish (Donegal) - Posts: 905 - 11/04/2026 19:58:58    2665807

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Replying To Scenicparish:  "You want Kerry to have a handy run as always to an All Ireland semi final.
You afraid ye might have to start training a bit earlier?"
It is very bizarre that there cannot be repeat final pairings but such a simple rule to permit provincial winners avoiding each other in Round 2A is seen as controversial. Unbeaten provincial winners should have a pathway to the semi finals that doesn't involve other provincial winners.
Good wins for Mayo and Laois today. Been such a bad year for Offaly. With their attitude towards the Tailteann Cup, hard to see them rescuing anything from this year.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9628 - 11/04/2026 20:26:49    2665810

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Tyrone to beat Armagh tomorrow then home to watch another Irishman wear the green jacket.

Saynothing (Tyrone) - Posts: 2625 - 11/04/2026 20:46:08    2665812

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Replying To WanPintWin:  "Kerry are still number 1, but there's no world in which you can say Cork are better than Donegal at the moment. You're only on the wind-up with that.
Donegal are top-2 in most people's books at the moment. Whether Cork beat them in 2024 is irrelevant. Cork can be a handful on their day, but they're still inconsistent. They lost by 20 points to Derry a weeks ago. Donegal are at a different level."
Kerry are definitely Number 1, outstanding team and manager, plus David Clifford is just a different level player, different class. The questions will be can the other contenders close the gaps this year in Championship, as the league final meant nothing.

Cork on their day could beat anybody, but they definitely aren't as consistent as Donegal, Galway, Armagh etc, Cork tend to be hot or cold.

I don't know if Donegal are top 2, I would say we are among the group of teams trying to see if we can challenge Kerry this summer in Championship, that group includes Galway, Armagh and I suspect it will also include Mayo, Dublin, Meath and maybe Roscommon. If we can get our injured players players back and avoid injuries to major key players, we definitely can challenge.

Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1730 - 11/04/2026 22:31:31    2665829

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Replying To Saynothing:  "Tyrone to beat Armagh tomorrow then home to watch another Irishman wear the green jacket."
Augusta has Amen Corner. The three consecutive weekends of Rounds 2A/2B, Round 3 and quarter finals are Amen Corner in the football championship. 16 teams will enter Rounds 2A/2B. Only 4 of 16 will be standing after the quarter finals.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9628 - 11/04/2026 22:42:14    2665831

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Replying To Expertinall:  "Cork are stronger than Donegal, not many will agree with you there! Bookies don't either. I can see cork back in div2 after next campaign."
Last time Cork met Donegal in chamoionshio was in 24 and guess the result?
Cork won
Next in 25 Kerry win.Ulster is a falliciy.

brayballer (Wicklow) - Posts: 536 - 12/04/2026 01:16:04    2665837

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Replying To brayballer:  "Last time Cork met Donegal in chamoionshio was in 24 and guess the result?
Cork won
Next in 25 Kerry win.Ulster is a falliciy."
I think we'll have our answers soon enough,
For championship. Might have to wait a bit longer to see if I'm correct about relegation.
Enjoy the munster 'championship'.

Expertinall (UK) - Posts: 22 - 12/04/2026 12:38:59    2665869

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Replying To brayballer:  "Last time Cork met Donegal in chamoionshio was in 24 and guess the result?
Cork won
Next in 25 Kerry win.Ulster is a falliciy."
Great away victory over Carlow today. Well done.

Scenicparish (Donegal) - Posts: 905 - 12/04/2026 15:59:48    2665905

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Replying To brayballer:  "Last time Cork met Donegal in chamoionshio was in 24 and guess the result?
Cork won
Next in 25 Kerry win.Ulster is a falliciy."
Ulster is the best provincial football championship by miles. Connacht the next best.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19197 - 12/04/2026 16:29:04    2665910

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Well its off with a bang

Some great games there today

Beelzedub (Dublin) - Posts: 495 - 12/04/2026 18:50:20    2665964

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Leitrim with the result of the day. Colm O'Rourke was right just to predict provincial winners and let the provincials play out before any more predictions. Wasn't surprised by Tyrone putting it up to Armagh. They squandered late chances in extra time.
Wicklow with a good win. Frustrating for them to have missed out on promotion.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9628 - 12/04/2026 19:31:41    2665977

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Replying To Expertinall:  "Cork are stronger than Donegal, not many will agree with you there! Bookies don't either. I can see cork back in div2 after next campaign."
Cork are solid a they beat us in a meaningless group game two years ago but we are miles better than them. Let's be real. Cork aren't all Ireland contenders.

eddieSize5Balls (Donegal) - Posts: 334 - 12/04/2026 19:37:28    2665979

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Replying To Saynothing:  "Tyrone to beat Armagh tomorrow then home to watch another Irishman wear the green jacket."
Well Tyrone will defo be kicking themselves. Could have win it at the end of normal time. Had some unbelievable chances in extra time as well.

Scenicparish (Donegal) - Posts: 905 - 12/04/2026 19:38:52    2665980

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Replying To brayballer:  "Last time Cork met Donegal in chamoionshio was in 24 and guess the result?
Cork won
Next in 25 Kerry win.Ulster is a falliciy."
How many Al semi Finals have Cork played in the last few years Einstein?

peiledoir20 (Donegal) - Posts: 1540 - 12/04/2026 19:46:25    2665985

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Replying To legendzxix:  "It is very bizarre that there cannot be repeat final pairings but such a simple rule to permit provincial winners avoiding each other in Round 2A is seen as controversial. Unbeaten provincial winners should have a pathway to the semi finals that doesn't involve other provincial winners.
Good wins for Mayo and Laois today. Been such a bad year for Offaly. With their attitude towards the Tailteann Cup, hard to see them rescuing anything from this year."
You can see today the difference of the Provincial Championships? Armagh were very fortunate to beat Tyrone and that was only a premlimary match.

Scenicparish (Donegal) - Posts: 905 - 12/04/2026 19:47:12    2665986

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Replying To Scenicparish:  "You can see today the difference of the Provincial Championships? Armagh were very fortunate to beat Tyrone and that was only a premlimary match."
How Ulster seed their championship is an Ulster matter. It's tough on Westmeath that they only have a week to prepare for Meath. Likewise Laois and Wicklow for their quarter finals.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9628 - 12/04/2026 20:25:14    2665997

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Replying To legendzxix:  "How Ulster seed their championship is an Ulster matter. It's tough on Westmeath that they only have a week to prepare for Meath. Likewise Laois and Wicklow for their quarter finals."
You cannot seed teams in Ulster because it's so unpredictable. That's why it's so special. There is only a week between the quarter finals and semi finals in Ulster as well.

Scenicparish (Donegal) - Posts: 905 - 12/04/2026 20:37:42    2666001

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Replying To brayballer:  "Last time Cork met Donegal in chamoionshio was in 24 and guess the result?
Cork won
Next in 25 Kerry win.Ulster is a falliciy."
Last time Meath met Kerry in the championship was even more recent, and guess the result?
Does that mean you have Meath ranked ahead of Kerry?
Donegal got to the All-Ireland final last year and the semi-final the previous year. They've gone further than Cork in both championships and are also well ahead of them in league rankings over the last number of years.
There isn't a sane GAA supporter who thinks Cork are better than Donegal at the moment.

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 2759 - 12/04/2026 20:45:05    2666004

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