Dublin vs Donegal Prediction, Betting Preview & Odds | All-Ireland Football Championship

🪄 Dublin vs Donegal

Much like the Kerry vs Armagh match, the Gaelic Football championship is going to lose one of the big guns before the last eight when Dublin take on Donegal at Croke Park on Sunday, June 21st. Both sides had contrasting fortunes in their Round 2 matches, with Donegal losing a seven-point lead to go down by one to Cork in their Round 2A meeting, while Dublin recovered from their two bad losses against Westmeath and Louth to beat Cavan by eleven in Breffni Park.

Despite that loss to Cork, Donegal are still many people’s idea of this year’s All-Ireland champions and, for us, should still be more than capable of heading to Croke Park and beating Dublin. That is why our Dublin v Donegal All-Ireland football prediction is for a Donegal win to take them into the last eight. Dublin have had a torrid year, and even if they looked more comfortable in their win over Cavan, it is going to take a massive leap in their performance levels to be able to match Donegal on the wide-open expanses of Croke Park on June 21st. Donegal were wasteful up front against Cork, which is why they failed to completely pull away from the Leesiders, but they had built up a seven-point gap into the second half, and they will feel confident of being able to fix their attacking issues ahead of their visit to Dublin. They are still one of the most tactically astute teams left in the championship and have the potential to dominate the middle third against a Dublin side who have struggled in that area all year.

The one advantage Dublin have is the performance of Con O’Callaghan against Cavan. The Cuala star, who has had a stop-start 2026 to date, hit 1-9 and was outstanding for Dublin, who also had their manager, Ger Brennan, on the sideline for the first time in this year’s championship after the culmination of his ban. If O’Callaghan can have one of those great days he has had in the past, he could lead Dublin to a surprise win over Donegal, but too many of his teammates have not been up to scratch this year.

Donegal will no doubt have a plan for Con to manage his influence, but can Dublin come up with similar strategies to halt Michael Langan's, Michael Murphy's or Oisin Gallen’s impact on the match? Donegal look to have too much firepower all over the field for this Dublin team, with the ability of some of their key men to kick 2-pointers another advantage in favour of the Ulster team.

With all that being said, it is very hard to look past Donegal claiming the spoils and taking the win. After all, the way they responded after their last shock loss against Down was to go to Kerry and hammer the home side in Killarney. Maybe Con can inspire his side to revisit the glory days of the past and produce a monumental display at Croke Park, but it looks unlikely.

🎰 Dublin vs Donegal Betting Odds

Despite Donegal coming off a loss against Cork, they are still comfortable favourites when we look at the latest Dublin v Donegal betting odds ahead of the match on June 21st. Jim McGuinness’ team are available at around 1.40 with BoyleSports, while Dublin can be backed at a price of 3.50 with the same betting site.

Below you can see the latest Dublin v Donegal odds with three of the best sportsbooks for GAA betting around.

Result

Dublin

3.50

3.45

3.45

Donegal

1.40

1.39

1.39

Draw

8.50

9.50

9.50

Result

Dublin

3.50

3.45

3.45

Donegal

1.40

1.39

1.39

Draw

8.50

9.50

9.50

🎈 Dublin Squad Form

Dublin went into that Cavan match with their confidence at a low ebb after back-to-back defeats against Westmeath and Louth in this year’s championship. The fact that Ger Brennan could take his place on the sideline will have encouraged the players, as will the performance of Con O’Callaghan. The Dublin talisman hit 1-9 and looked hungry and fit. Getting nearly 70 minutes into Lee Gannon was another plus for Dublin, as was Colm Basquel getting on the pitch and hitting two points for his team.

🧨 Donegal Squad Form

For a team that was tipped by many to win this year’s All-Ireland, Donegal have had a mixed championship to date. They have suffered losses to Down and Cork, but they responded to their Down defeat with an impressive ten-point win in Killarney against Kerry. They will need big performances from star men like Michael Langan, Ryan McHugh and Michael Murphy with their 2026 season on the line at Croke Park, but they certainly have the players and the manager to respond to that shock Cork loss.

✨ Dublin vs Donegal Predicted Lineups

Both sides will look to field their strongest possible teams, with this being a knockout tie in Croke Park. Dublin will hope Con O’Callaghan and Lee Gannon will have felt no ill-effects as they build their fitness up. They will also hope that Seán Bugler and Cormac Costello will be fit to play some part after Bugler missed the Cavan match and Costello was replaced after 20 minutes.

Below you can see the starting teams that both managers sent out in their Round 2 matches.

⚡⚡ Dublin vs Donegal - H2H Stats

Dublin and Donegal have met seven times in the championship down the years. Donegal beat Dublin to win their first ever All-Ireland SFC title in 1992, while their rivalry really kicked up a gear during the 2010s. During that decade they met four times, including in two All-Ireland semi-finals.

Below you can see the Dublin v Donegal All-Ireland H2H stats from their last three championship meetings.

🎯 Updates from GAA Twitter (X)

The best way to keep up-to-date with everything going on in the world of GAA is to follow their social media pages.

You can do so by clicking the link below.