The Republic of Ireland will travel to the Czech Republic for the World Cup playoff semi-final on Thursday, March 26th.
If Ireland progress to the playoff final, they will host either Denmark or North Macedonia at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday, March 31st for a place at the finals in North America.
“I know Prague is a tough place to go, but anything can happen in this game, as we saw in Hungary,” said Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson following the Fifa draw in Zurich.
“The most exciting thing is if we win, we get a home game.”
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On the current crisis in Czech football since the federation sacked manager Ivan Hašek after last month’s 2-1 loss to the Faroe Islands, Hallgrímsson struck a lighthearted chord by bringing up Ireland’s defeat to Armenia in September.
“We lost in Armenia and almost fired the coach,” he said. “It is a similar situation. They beat Croatia which shows the strength they can have. It is going to be like a cup final.”
In fact, during qualification, the Czechs lost 5-1 in Croatia before a 0-0 result in Prague last month.
“The Czech Republic are higher than us on Fifa rankings,” he continued (44th to 59th). “I know how good they can be, let’s hope they do not peak in March.”
The Danes and Irish have recent history in World Cup playoffs with Christian Eriksen inspiring a 5-1 defeat of Martin O’Neill’s Ireland at the Aviva in November 2017 following a scoreless draw in the first leg.
The playoffs in March 2026 are one-legged ties.
“If we can produce a really exciting, important game for our fans [in Dublin] it would mean so much. It is financial, it is everything for the association to get this match in Ireland.
“But what the fans have done, they have created an environment in the Aviva that is unique. It is massive to have a home game if we manage to win the first one.”
Northern Ireland must overcome Italy away to secure a playoff final against Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina. If the Welsh progress, the final will be held in Cardiff.
In the other fixtures, the winner of Ukraine versus Sweden will host either Poland or Albania while the winner of Turkey or Romania must travel to face the winner of Slovakia v Kosovo.
A total of 42 nations have already qualified for the expanded tournament of 48 teams. With four European spots to be filled on March 31st, two more qualifiers will come from an intercontinental playoff that has Iraq playing the winner of Bolivia and Suriname while DR Congo face the winners of New Caledonia and Jamaica.
