The Republic of Ireland will be away to one of Poland, Wales, the Czech Republic or Slovakia in a World Cup playoff semi-final next March.
Those semi-finals are scheduled for Thursday, March 26th with the finals the following Tuesday, March 31st.
The draw for the playoffs will take place in Zurich on Thursday at 12pm. Ireland are in Pot 3 and as such they will be away from home against a team from Pot 2. Here is a closer look at Ireland’s potential opponents.
Wales
Fifa World Ranking: 34*
Manager: Craig Bellamy
Ireland’s record v Wales: Played 19, Won 6, Lost 8, Drawn 5
Most recent meeting: Wales 1 Ireland 0; Cardiff, November 2020 (Nations League)
Goals scored in qualifying campaign: 21 (five-team group)
Goals conceded in qualifying campaign: 11
Wales manager Craig Bellamy. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty
Wales finished their group schedule with an eye-catching 7-1 victory over North Macedonia on Tuesday night in what was a must-win fixture for the Welsh to secure a place in Pot 2 for the playoff draw, and thus guaranteeing a home semi-final. Harry Wilson, who was captain on the night, scored a hat-trick in the thumping of North Macedonia.
Belgium topped Group J with 18 points, followed by Wales on 16, North Macedonia 13, Kazakhstan eight and Liechtenstein on zero.
Wales won five of their eight games, lost twice (home and away to Belgium) and had one draw (away to North Macedonia). They needed a 96th minute equaliser from David Brooks to salvage a draw in Skopje after the home side looked to have won that game with a goal in the first of the added minutes.
Bellamy, who has been in charge since the summer of 2024, will be pleased with the character his side displayed at various stages over the last few months. They fell 3-0 down to Belgium in Brussels but battled back to get level late on, only for Kevin De Bruyne to score a winner with just two minutes remaining. Wales beat North Macedonia on Tuesday night without Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies (both injured) and the suspended Ethan Ampadu. The Welsh will enter the playoffs feeling they have created some real momentum now.
Poland
Fifa World Ranking: 33*
Manager: Jan Urban
Ireland’s record v Poland: Played 28, Won 6, Lost 11, Drawn 11
Most recent meeting: Poland 1 Ireland 1; Wroclaw, September 2018 (Friendly)
Goals scored in qualifying campaign: 14 (five-team group)
Goals conceded in qualifying campaign: 7
Poland’s forward Robert Lewandowski. Photograph: Wojtek Radwanski/Getty
Poland only lost one of their eight group games and will enter the playoffs undefeated in their last five outings. They were the only team in Group G to take points off the Netherlands – the sides played out 1-1 draws in both Rotterdam and Warsaw. However, they lost to Finland in June and their victories over Lithuania (1-0) and Malta (3-2) weren’t quite emphatic.
Off the field, there was a rocky period for Poland during the summer too with Michal Probierz forced to resign as manager following a row over his decision to replace Robert Lewandowski as captain. Lewandowski said he felt his trust had been betrayed and had refused to play under Probierz again. Following the 2-1 loss to Finland in June, Probierz quit. Urban – Poland’s fifth manager since 2021 – is unbeaten since taking the reins. Lewandowski has been reinstated as team captain.
Slovakia
Fifa World Ranking: 46*
Manager: Francesco Calzona
Ireland’s record v Slovakia: Played 6, Won 1, Lost 1, Drawn 4
Most recent meeting: Slovakia 0 Ireland 0 (Slovakia won 4-2 on penalties); Bratislava, October 2020 (Euro 2020 playoff semi-final)
Goals scored in qualifying campaign: 6 (four-team group)
Goals conceded in qualifying campaign: 8
David Hancko of Slovakia. Photograph: Alex Grimm/Getty
Ireland have recent playoff history with Slovakia – losing a Euro 2020 playoff semi-final in Bratislava after a penalty shoot-out five years ago. Stephen Kenny’s Ireland played out a scoreless draw but lost the shoot-out 4-2 to see their hopes of qualifying for the Euros ripped apart.
Slovakia finished second in their recent qualifying group for next summer’s World Cup. They amassed 12 points in Group A, behind table-toppers Germany (15). Northern Ireland (9) were third with Luxembourg (0) failing to pick up any points.
But the group stage ended on a low note for Slovakia with a 6-0 hammering at the hands of Germany in Leipzig on Monday.
However, they beat Germany 2-0 in their opening game – their standout result in the campaign. That was followed with a 1-0 away victory over Luxembourg – where they needed a 90th minute winner. They then shipped a 2-0 defeat to Northern Ireland in Belfast last month, before a 2-0 home win over Luxembourg.
The pivotal game in the group was the 1-0 victory over Northern Ireland in Bratislava last week – where Slovakia again snatched a late win with Tomáš Bobček scoring an injury-time winner. They managed just six goals over the course of the six games – with no player netting twice.
Czech Republic
Fifa World Ranking: 44*
Manager: Jaroslav Köstl (Interim)
Ireland’s record v Czech Republic: Played 8, Won 2, Lost 4, Drawn 2
Most recent meeting: Ireland 1 Czech Republic 1; Dublin, February 2012 (Friendly)
Goals scored in qualifying campaign: 18 (five-team group)
Goals conceded in qualifying campaign: 8
Czech Republic’s midfielder Tomas Soucek. Photograph: Michal Cizek/AFP via Getty
All appears not to be well in the Czech Republic. The Czech football association fired manager Ivan Hašek last month after a shock 2-1 defeat to the Faroe Islands. Jaroslav Köstl, who had been Hasek’s assistant, took charge as caretaker manager for wins over San Marino (1-0) and Gibraltar (6-0), which ensured they finished second in Group L. However, they also shipped a 5-1 defeat to Croatia during the campaign and given the teams in that group (Croatia, Czech Republic, Faroe Islands, Montenegro and Gibraltar), second place would have been the least of their expectations at the outset.
Despite the 6-0 win over Gibraltar on Monday to secure second, there was a significant fallout after the game with the reports in Prague that the players would not be receiving bonuses because they did not acknowledge supporters after that match, plus captain Tomás Soucek is to be stripped of the captaincy for their next game. A new permanent manager is expected to be appointed before the playoffs next March.
*The Fifa World Rankings will be officially updated later today.
