What happened in the past week?
From seemingly nowhere, the Republic of Ireland pulled off a miracle to finish second in Group F of 2026 World Cup qualifying, which was good enough for a playoff.
A shock 2-0 win in Dublin over Portugal, a team that was ranked fifth in the world, was followed it up with a 3-2 win over Hungary in Budapest in a game where they needed to win.
Troy Parrott scored a goal in stoppage time to complete a hat-trick, less than four days after scoring twice against Portugal. Truly the week of dreams and one of the most dramatic moments in Irish soccer history.
So they finished second, but what happened then?
Ireland entered a 16-team draw for the World Cup playoffs with four places left available to qualify.
RM Block
Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men need to win two games to qualify for the tournament in North America next summer, the first will be against the Czech Republic away from home, then should they win, they will play against the winners of Denmark and North Macedonia in Dublin.
When are these matches and do I have any chance of getting to them?
Ireland play the Czechs on Thursday, March 26th, of next year, and then one of the two other teams on Tuesday, March 31st.
The tickets for the first game will be like gold dust as the FAI will get 5 per cent of the total tickets, and the Czech Republic have mostly been playing games at the Fortuna Arena in Prague, which has 19,370 seats. That would mean fewer than 1,000 seats for Irish fans.
The home game should be easier to get but it is more of a risk. If Ireland lose against the Czech Republic, the game will instead be a friendly with the losers of Denmark and North Macedonia. That would be a deflating game to attend.
Who else is in the playoffs?
Northern Ireland have made it to the playoffs too, and will go away to Italy in what was the toughest draw of the lot.
Should they make it past the Italians, they will play the winners of Wales and Bosnia and Herzegovina as they seek to join the 42 teams that have already qualified for the tournament.
Can the Republic of Ireland make it to the World Cup?
The draw gives them a fighting chance. It will require Ireland to win five competitive games in a row, which would be quite a feat. The Czechs are low on morale and without a permanent manager after losing to the Faroe Islands last month.
Should Ireland win, Denmark are likely opponents and old foes, having won 5-1 in Dublin in a 2018 World Cup playoff. But then they had Christian Eriksen at his peak, today they are not quite as fearsome. And if Troy Parrott keeps up his form, anything is possible.
