Ireland have been given a clearer indication as to their potential path to next summer’s World Cup, with two big results this evening cementing their seeding for Thursday’s World Cup play-off draw.
Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side came into Tuesday night needing two results to go their way in order to secure a spot in pot two and home semi-final for the draw.
They needed Austria to get at least a point at home against Bosnia & Herzegovina, while North Macedonia also needed a draw away at Wales.
Unfortunately, North Macedonia would come up well short as they were hammered 7-1 by the Welsh. As a result, Ireland will be in the pot 3 and will now face an away semi-final in the play-offs.
Here is everything you need to know about Ireland’s potential path in the World Cup play-offs.
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Ireland’s World Cup Play-Off Path Has Been Confirmed
Ireland’s World Cup Play-Off seeding confirmed
Tonight’s results now mean that Ireland will be a third seeds for Thursday’s draw.
The result of that is that we will have an away semi-final against a team from Pot 2. They could yet be at home for a potential final, with that being decided in an open draw.
Here are the pots in full:
Pot 1
Italy
Turkey
Ukraine
Denmark
Pot 2
Poland
Wales
Czechia
Slovakia
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Pot 3
Ireland
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Albania
Kosovo
Pot 4
Sweden
Northern Ireland
North Macedonia
Romania
When will the World Cup play-off draw take place?
The UEFA World Cup play-off draw will take place in Switzerland on Thursday, November 20th at 12pm Irish time.
How do the World Cup play-offs work?
The UEFA 16 nations involved in the play-offs will be split into four mini tournaments.
Each tournament will involve one-off semi-finals and a final, with the winner of the final securing a place at next summer’s World Cup.
As a result, Ireland will need to win two more games to book their spot at the tournament. The fixtures will be held in March.
Ireland’s potential World Cup play-off opponents
As third seeds, Ireland will face a nation from pot 2 at home/away in the semi-finals.
Here are there potential semi-final opponents:
Poland
Wales
Czechia
Slovakia
Should they come through that tie, they will then face a winner from the winner from the semi-final involving a first and fourth seed. They would have eight potential final opponents as a result, meaning they would face one of these nations:
Italy
Turkey
Ukraine
Denmark
Sweden
Romania
Northern Ireland
North Macedonia
Summary
Ireland’s path to the World Cup will become much clearer after Thursday’s draw, although we know they will face one of Scotland, Wales, Slovakia, or Czechia away in their semi-final tie.
They will then need to win a final against one of eight potential opponents. We will find out on Thursday whether that potential fixture will be at home or away.
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