IN WHAT HAS been an incredibly stressful week for Ireland’s football team, last night they witnessed one of the greatest moments of individual play from anyone ever to wear the green jersey. 

Ireland drew 2-2 with Austria in the Aviva Stadium, but there’s no doubt that the game will be remembered for Troy Parrott’s wonderful opening goal in the 12th minute. 

The goal was scored by a player who is undeniably the team’s star, but there’s also genuine talk that it may be the best goal ever scored by the national team. 

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The Republic of Ireland lead in Dublin, and it's that man again, Troy Parrott with a stunning solo goal#rtesport

📺Watch live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player pic.twitter.com/AYWcp9IwWm

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) October 1, 2026

Just watching the goal is the best way to appreciate it but just to describe it briefly.

The Irishman touches the ball a total of nine times in the period between receiving a knockdown from teammate Adam Idah and advancing on goal to score. 

With those nine touches, he manages to beat one Austrian defender twice, take it past another, throw a number of feints to unbalance his opponents and nutmeg two Austrians including the goalkeeper. 

For football fans, it was seven seconds of magic that will be remembered among the best goals ever scored for Ireland. 

That’s not just idle talk either. At half-time during the match, RTÉ analyst and former international Richie Sadlier summed it up: “Have I seen a better goal by an Irish player, at the Aviva? I don’t think I have.”

Writing for The42, Paul Fennessy said it was “one of the greatest goals the Aviva Stadium has ever witnessed”, adding that it was “a reminder of why we all watched football”. 

In The Irish Times this morning, Ken Early described it as being “as close to a perfect goal as you will see”. 

The commentary among fans online was similar. One fan who was in the stadium said it was “the best solo goal I’ve ever seen in person” and another went all the way in saying it was “the greatest goal of all time by an Irish player”. 

Those comments were in response to RTÉ’s video of the goal on X, which already has almost 370,000 views.

RTÉ’s Facebook video also has thousands of reactions, with many there also calling it the greatest Irish goal ever scored. 

Ireland's Jack Moylan (left) in disbelief as Troy Parrott (centre) celbrates his goal.

If this is all familiar, it’s because Parrott is already responsible for one of the greatest moments in the Irish team’s history. Last November, Parrot’s last-gasp winning goal against Hungary in a World Cup qualifier went global given the celebrations it launched. 

Even if Thursday night’s goal wasn’t as significant as the Hungary one in terms of what it meant for tournament qualification, the quality of the goal means it is already being shared way beyond Ireland too. 

Parrott rupft Österreich komplett auseinander #DAZNmoment #UEFANationsLeague

Internationalen Top-Fußball und mehr seht Ihr live auf DAZN - über den Link in der Bio ab 4,99€ mtl. pic.twitter.com/QZdAb2NknM

— DAZN DE (@DAZN_DE) October 1, 2026

DAZN DE has some immensely enjoyable German-language commentary on the goal, saying in a post that needs no translation: “Parrott rupft Österreich komplett auseinander”.

That video on the DAZN DE X’s account has already racked up 7.4 million views in 12 hours which, by comparison, is almost twice what RTÉ’s video of the famous Hungary goal has done in the last 11 months 

Numerous football accounts are sharing the DAZN DE video of the goal and Uefa’s is featuring it as a featured video following last night’s Nations League action calling it a “mazy run and cool finish”.