World Cup Qualification Playoffs - March 2026

[Nesta99]

Worth noting they were unbeaten in the group up to that point - three draws against Belgium and Wales, and won the rest. Only conceded three goals in the first seven matches.

I think you're right they won't cause a shock, but they're not complete minnows either. Enjoyed watching them at Euro 2020(1)

Its was an absurd result in the overall context. Everything Wales did hit the back of the net, NM flooded forward and then gave up, they knew they had a fall back of the NL slot too. Conspiracy theorist, once the game was gone, get hammered and hope opposition from higher pots underestimate the Pot 4 rank....it would be a very Italy thing to do, not turn up thinking its only North Macedonia only to find they can be a handful. Denmark wont be that arrogant.

Im struggling to pinpoint what was off about their game in Hampden, and I think its that their are like a side that has just suddenly aged, not saying they have but its how they looked, they were leggy, and the penalty flattered the performance - it was more about how can Scotland manage to lose this rather than Denmark win it. Dorgu was a physical and pacey handful but they werent imposing unlike Denmark teams prior who were units. We'd now have a much more imposing side in that regard and they lacked the Eriksen influence that killed us in the last play-off. Solid but not unlike ourselves missing that world class midfielder pulling the strings.

Anyway this chat about Denmark is premature, I certainly know very little about the Czechs so probably why Im overlooking them a bit.

[Insidetherock]

Amazing draw. Czechia had a ridiculous qualifying group and are very beatable. Might even suit us to play them away so that the counter game is more in our favour.

The Danes are on a big slump similar to us a few years back and I wouldn't say there's any guarantees they beat the Macedons...perfect draw all things considered.

Cheap enough flights to Prague...any idea when tickets will go on sale from past experience?

Where you getting cheap flights.. robbing *******s Ryanair are looking for 500 quid over on Wednesday, back Friday

[Insidetherock]

right lads.. hotel booked.. anyone want to figure out a way of getting there without losing a kidney?

[pineapple stu]

Are you willing to spent a night in a train seat? Prague is well connected by train. There's berths too but they're more expensive. Got the train from Cherbourg to Prague earlier this year (Cherbourg - Paris - Mannheim - Prague) but you could easily fly into, say, Austria, Poland, Germany, etc. and get a train.

Interrail app or bahn.de are great for train times. Interrail gives great ticket prices too.

[Exgrad]

Denmark were cruising through their group and just needed to beat Belarus at home to qualify, who they had allready beaten 6-0 away. The scraped a draw after being 2-1 down. Just needed a point against scotland and blew that chance too. Thats gotta hurt, i dont think their game v North Macedonia is a walkover for them....anyway lets concentrate on Czechia i guess.

[the 12 th man]

I've heard a small allocation for away fans of 900-1000,anyone else hear this?

Their biggest stadium less than 20K

[Crosby87]

Will it be Czech mate for us, lads?

[rebelmusic]

Where you getting cheap flights.. robbing *******s Ryanair are looking for 500 quid over on Wednesday, back Friday

I'm seeing 200 out of Cork but that was at 1pm. Won't book anything until I have a ticket

[Bungle]

If you could substitute Denmark for Ukraine, it would have been perfection.

Still Czechs apart from their huge heritage were arguably the poorest pot 2 team and we avoided Sweden as a pot 4. I really didn't want the Poles away. Denmark are a fine side but we are at home and if we come through Prague, that is huge.

Italy with their gigantic name would have been a nightmare and Turkey are a really good team.

We have a decent chance.

[Eirambler]

Not the worst draw by any means, especially when you see what the north got in comparison. That said, we'll still be rank outsiders to qualify from this position. But we can now watch the finals draw next month with genuine interest as there's a not completely unrealistic possibility that we may end up at the tournament, which wouldn't really have been the case if we had drawn Italy away in either fixture.

Unfortunately there's going to be an awful lot of Ireland fans spending huge sums of money to get to Czechia for this who will end up watching the game in a bar in Prague.

[geysir]

I think the semi final draw is worth more than a modest high five as regards to having a good chance to win through to a home final.
I watched Czechia dodge a big bullet in their home game v Faroes and were deservedly beaten in the return game, albeit I admit to having a smidgen of bias.

[Insidetherock]

Not the worst draw by any means, especially when you see what the north got in comparison. That said, we'll still be rank outsiders to qualify from this position. But we can now watch the finals draw next month with genuine interest as there's a not completely unrealistic possibility that we may end up at the tournament, which wouldn't really have been the case if we had drawn Italy away in either fixture.

Unfortunately there's going to be an awful lot of Ireland fans spending huge sums of money to get to Czechia for this who will end up watching the game in a bar in Prague.

You say this.. like its the worst thing in the world 😅

[Eirambler]

For anyone who does end up in Prague I would wholeheartedly recommend the Letna Beer Garden, don't know if it's open late enough to watch the match there though.

[pineapple stu]

The Czechs finished second in their group behind Croatia, but endured an up-and-down campaign that included a shock 2-1 defeat to the Faroe Islands, after which manager Ivan Hasek was fired.

Asked if that stunning reversal gave him optimism, Hallgrimsson said, “Well, we lost to Armenia and almost fired the coach then so it is a similar situation then.
He's better with the media than Kenny was anyway!

https://www.the42.ie/heimir-hallgrimsson-12-6880853-Nov2025/

[the 12 th man]

Not the worst draw by any means, especially when you see what the north got in comparison. That said, we'll still be rank outsiders to qualify from this position. But we can now watch the finals draw next month with genuine interest as there's a not completely unrealistic possibility that we may end up at the tournament, which wouldn't really have been the case if we had drawn Italy away in either fixture.

Unfortunately there's going to be an awful lot of Ireland fans spending huge sums of money to get to Czechia for this who will end up watching the game in a bar in Prague.

There was 3000+ Irish fans in Budapest at the game so there's about 2000 disappointed people straight away.

[tetsujin1979]

If you could substitute Denmark for Ukraine, it would have been perfection.

Still Czechs apart from their huge heritage were arguably the poorest pot 2 team and we avoided Sweden as a pot 4. I really didn't want the Poles away. Denmark are a fine side but we are at home and if we come through Prague, that is huge.

Italy with their gigantic name would have been a nightmare and Turkey are a really good team.

We have a decent chance. it could all change in March but Sweden are utter dreck at the moment

[Razors left peg]

it could all change in March but Sweden are utter dreck at the moment

They have a lot of good players though

[Eirambler]

Apparently we'll be in Pot 2 in the finals draw as a result of Denmark's ranking. That, combined with an effort from FIFA to keep European teams apart as much as possible in the groups, means there's a good chance of a favourable finals draw for whatever team emerges from our playoff grouping. Will be weird being involved in the draw when we don't know whether or not we'll actually be involved in the tournament, but that's just the way of it under this new format.

[Bungle]

it could all change in March but Sweden are utter dreck at the moment

Sweden have some amount of top players. If they click, they would be horrible to play against. They have a bit of muscle memory at making tournaments as well.

[Razors left peg]

Im gonna go full Kevin Keegan if we manage to get past the Czechs. Denmark are up there with the teams in international football that I dislike the most, and we owe them massively. I would Luv it if we beat them

[pineapple stu]

Will be weird being involved in the draw when we don't know whether or not we'll actually be involved in the tournament, but that's just the way of it under this new format.
Same thing happened at Euro 2020 as I recall.

[legendz]

The semi final away draw was always going to be tricky. Massive incentive having the home final to play for. Czechia away nearly as tough as going away to Hungary. Hungary had the goal advantage in that they only needed a draw.
Denmark looked dangerous the other night when down to 10 men. Contentious second yellow at that. Both Denmark and N. Macedonia will be smarting after their defeats. They might take the aggression from that out on each other.
After last Thursday against Portugal, it would be absolutely massive to bring the playoff final to the Aviva.

[backstothewall]

Unfortunately there's going to be an awful lot of Ireland fans spending huge sums of money to get to Czechia for this who will end up watching the game in a bar in Prague.

All the more reason for the Czechs to move the game somewhere else.

It looks to take about 4 hours to get from Prague Airport to Olomouc, and the same back. And that's assuming flights line up with train times, and that our fans can even get train tickets ahead of thousands of Czech fans making the same journey (who have the obvious advantage of speaking Czech).

I know what I would do if I were them.

[The Fly]

He's better with the media than Kenny was anyway!

https://www.the42.ie/heimir-hallgrimsson-12-6880853-Nov2025/
I hope to see him sticking it to Tony O’Donoghue.

[Fixer82]

Just reflecting on the last two games and thinking ‘thank God for VAR!’
If it wasn’t for VAR, Ronaldo would’ve stayed on the pitch and Ogbene’s penalty claim would not have been given.
And we would be, once again, hard done by.

[Nesta99]

"Ireland is a very unpleasant and tenacious opponent, which we had the opportunity to see in their last qualifying match in Hungary.
"I believe that our great advantage will be the home environment, we will manage the match and thus get closer to our common and dream goal, which is to advance to the World Cup."
Lukas Povrod after the draw

So the Czechs lost to the Faroes and then sacked their manager, Thier current interim manamger hopes to be appointed but they dont think he will so will have another new person in that role by play off time. A lot of disruption. They lost bonus payments during the camaign for being silly and not acknowledging fans. Captain was fired. So not happy at the moment.

[Fixer82]

"Ireland is a very unpleasant and tenacious opponent, which we had the opportunity to see in their last qualifying match in Hungary.
"I believe that our great advantage will be the home environment, we will manage the match and thus get closer to our common and dream goal, which is to advance to the World Cup."
Lukas Povrod after the draw

So the Czechs lost to the Faroes and then sacked their manager, Thier current interim manamger hopes to be appointed but they dont think he will so will have another new person in that role by play off time. A lot of disruption. They lost bonus payments during the camaign for being silly and not acknowledging fans. Captain was fired. So not happy at the moment.

Their manager is only 35

[texidub]

I often say it as a joke about our opponents, but this time I mean it - we have them rattled already!

[rebelmusic]

Just bought my season ticket. There's only a handful left and in pretty crappy areas but fyi for anyone who is holding off

[Eirambler]

This should be a nice earner for the FAI anyway, and badly needed. They'll sell out of season tickets quickly enough now, and will presumably sell out for the potential playoff final as well, with supporters having to buy not knowing the semi-final result - so even if the game ends up being a friendly against Macedonia it will be a sellout and a good pay day for the association. Obviously actually qualifying would be another level again, but even the playoffs will be a better than expected return for them.

[rebelmusic]

I'm of the firm belief that if HH can get the tactics right for the first 20 mins against Czechia then it'll be ours for the taking. I did read some worrying suggestions they might move the venue to some manky commute which suggests they are pretty fearful..

One area we didn't really touch on in the last few days of debate - going back to the second window there was a lot of consensus on here that the pairing of Cullen and Knight was a big part of the problem. Now that we've had two games without Knight, does HH bring him back into the starting lineup or does Molumby keep his spot. I'm inclined to say the latter but curious on everyone's opinion

[irishfan86]

One area we didn't really touch on in the last few days of debate - going back to the second window there was a lot of consensus on here that the pairing of Cullen and Knight was a big part of the problem. Now that we've had two games without Knight, does HH bring him back into the starting lineup or does Molumby keep his spot. I'm inclined to say the latter but curious on everyone's opinion

I mean is this even a question?

Has to be Molumby for me. Taylor if unavailable. Go with the guys that got you there unless it’s an established star, which Knight isn’t. In the squad, off the bench, sure — and in general terms there’s not much between Molumby, Taylor and Knight — they’re all solid Championship level midfielders. But don't mess with a winning formula unless Molumby/Taylor unavailable IMO.

[Fixer82]

I'm of the firm belief that if HH can get the tactics right for the first 20 mins against Czechia then it'll be ours for the taking. I did read some worrying suggestions they might move the venue to some manky commute which suggests they are pretty fearful..

One area we didn't really touch on in the last few days of debate - going back to the second window there was a lot of consensus on here that the pairing of Cullen and Knight was a big part of the problem. Now that we've had two games without Knight, does HH bring him back into the starting lineup or does Molumby keep his spot. I'm inclined to say the latter but curious on everyone's opinion

100% Knight doesn’t fit in to the picture at the moment. I’m not sure he and Cullen have ever worked well together and I don’t see Cullen being dropped.

I’m wondering could Azaz and Cullen play together with Ferguson and Parrott up top somehow

[Eirambler]

I don't think we need to start both Ferguson and Parrott. Parrott has the 9 role nailed down for now, Ferguson could be back in the Brighton reserves by March the way his season has gone so far. I'd hold him back as a better alternative to Idah to come in off the bench if needed.

[texidub]

I really like Knight and Ferguson, and there are always horses for courses, but they have been overtaken by Molumby and Parrott.

[Eirambler]

Both can have important roles as subs as well though. There's Smallbone to come back in too. I always thought Knight looked better for Ireland in a more advanced role, dropping in to midfield when out of possession. Kenny had a degree of success with him using him that way. Can't remember if it was during the Anthony Barry period or the John Eustace one, possibly both? Could see him being a handy option in that kind of role off the bench in a game where we're defending a lead.

[~YTM~]

The current format didn't seem bad but different strokes for different folks.
12 automatic and 4 playoff route spots this time round. Possibly something like 8 automatic, 8 direct to playoff finals and 16 in playoff semi finals is the kind of tiered approach UEFA might take. At the end of the day, it'll be revenue driven.
The Euros are more difficult to increase jeopardy with 22 or 23 qualifying spots.

Hopefully it never follows the same format as the women's game which has turned qualifiers into another Nations League style tournament. I like the Nations League but having one now every year would be overkill. The women's team just won promotion to League A but come next year could find themselves relegated back to League B depending on where they finish in UEFAs WC Nations League style qualifiers.

[~YTM~]

Both can have important roles as subs as well though. There's Smallbone to come back in too. I always thought Knight looked better for Ireland in a more advanced role, dropping in to midfield when out of possession. Kenny had a degree of success with him using him that way. Can't remember if it was during the Anthony Barry period or the John Eustace one, possibly both? Could see him being a handy option in that kind of role off the bench in a game where we're defending a lead.

That Luxembourg game in particular was during Barry's time. Came on for Idah and Robinson got moved CF from LW. Won the free kick for the first goal and got the assists for goals two and three. Kenny kept it for the next game against Belgium when Eustace came in but dropped it come the NLs. Think Knight might have been carrying a knock and that's why Parrott started the first game playing wide.

If we're playing with WBs then RWB could also be another role for Knight to possibly play. Always thought Browne played well when he filled in at RWB. And instead of making a like for like sub in Molumby for Knight could possibly drop Azaz deeper to have a playmaker deeper in midfield and have Knights energy and athleticism supporting Ogbene with the CF.

It's a pity things to turned to **** for Derby as a club. As in his first season at Derby he looked like he could develop into a goal scoring midfielder under Cocu.

[elatedscum]

Given our potential seeding for the World Cup was confirmed today, I did a mock draw which includes the other rules for the draw announced today.

We ended up in Group B:

Canada
Croatia
Tunisia
Czechia / Ireland / Denmark / Macedonia

Other groups to give a flavour for how it might look….

Group A:

Mexico
Colombia
Uzbekistan
Ukraine / Sweden / Poland / Albania

Group C:

Portugal
Australia
Scotland
Ghana

Group D:

USA
South Korea
South Africa
Italy/Wales/Bosnia/NI

Group E:

Germany
Switzerland
Qatar
Cape Verde

Group F:

Brazil
Austria
Saudi Arabia
Jamaica / DR Congo / New Caledonia

Group G:

England
Japan
Egypt
New Zealand

Group H:

Belgium
Morrocco
Norway
Bolivia / Iraq / Suriname

Group I:

France
Senegal
Paraguay
Haiti

Group J:

Spain
Ecuador
Algeria
Jordan

Group K:

Netherlands
Uruguay
Ivory Coast
Curacao

Group L:

Argentina
Iran
Panama
Turkey / Romania / Kosovo / Slovakia

[ltfc_2004]

https://ash-iwn.github.io/wc-draw-sim/


This is great fun and very distracting !

[Kingdom]

I did read some worrying suggestions they might move the venue to some manky commute which suggests they are pretty fearful..

List is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Republic_national_football_team
Wiki is showing Praha as the venue already for our play-off.

Plzen is the one to be wary of I'd say : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doosan_Arena. it held the Montenegro qualifier this year, and not to ignore the Slovakian NL match a few years ago.

The Malšovická aréna in Hradec Králov I've never heard of before, but it held a qualifier this year agaisnt the faroes. 9k - one to worry about - it's miles away from praha. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mal%C5%A1ovick%C3%A1_ar%C3%A9na

Olomouc has had plenty of matches over the years, even hosting the Scots in 2021/2022, as well as us when Kinsella, Keane AND dUFF (I think) got their debuts? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C5%AFv_stadion

Banik Ostrava's ground has had a couple recently, but unlikely.
Teplice hasn't had one in nearly 15 years, can count it out I'd say.
Liberec hasn't hosted one in 15 years, you can count it out thankfully.

Thankfully there are no acceptable grounds in Brno (An ice-hockey town apparently, albeit a beautiful town).

[Kingdom]

One area we didn't really touch on in the last few days of debate - going back to the second window there was a lot of consensus on here that the pairing of Cullen and Knight was a big part of the problem. Now that we've had two games without Knight, does HH bring him back into the starting lineup or does Molumby keep his spot. I'm inclined to say the latter but curious on everyone's opinion


I've been a vocal supporter of Jayson Molumby and in my opinion he should never have been disposed of in the first place. And he was excellent in the first half in Wembley which seems to have been forgotten about.

[tetsujin1979]

I'm a big fan of Molumby, but it always feels like he's five minutes away from a yellow card