Didn’t the Republic of Ireland already qualify for the World Cup by beating Hungary in Budapest?
No, Ireland have not qualified for the World Cup. Troy Parrott’s hat-trick in Budapest on November 16th earned them a place among 16 European nations in the playoffs in March next year, when four countries will qualify for the 48-team tournament next summer in North America.
Ireland still have to beat the Czech Republic in Prague on March 26th and Denmark or North Macedonia in Dublin on March 31st to return to football’s big show for the first time since 2002.
How many teams have qualified so far?
Forty-two of 48 are in, with four from 16 European nations – Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Sweden, Poland, Albania, Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, Kosovo, Denmark, North Macedonia, Czech Republic and Ireland – still to qualify.
There are also two outstanding places to be decided via the Inter-Confederation playoffs, where the winners of New Caledonia and Jamaica face the Democratic Republic of Congo while the winners of Bolivia and Suriname face Iraq.
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When is the World Cup draw?
Fifa’s draw for the World Cup takes place at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC on December 5th (5pm Irish time). Technically, Ireland are in the draw even though Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men still need to win two games to qualify. Watch out for ‘PO4’ (play-off 4).
Explain?
Fifa, football’s global governing body, have clarified that the outstanding playoff teams will be the lowest seeds in 12 groups of four, Groups A-L.
Italy are fourth seeds?
Even the four-time champions, yes. Italy are ranked 12th in the world but they finished runners-up behind Norway after Erling Haaland scored 16 goals in eight qualifiers.
To qualify, Italy must beat Northern Ireland at home and the winners of Wales versus Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ireland, as the 59th ranked country in the world, fully deserve to be in Pot 4.
Okay, for the draw on December 5th, what details do we know for certain?
Pot 1 will include the host nations – USA, Canada and Mexico alongside Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
However, the draw will separate the top four seeds – Spain, Argentina, France and England – until the semi-finals. Argentina and Spain cannot meet until the final at the MetLife Stadium in Meadowlands, New Jersey on July 19th.
Mexico will be in top seeds in Group A so they can open the tournament at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on June 11th and play their other group games on home soil.
Also, three European teams cannot be drawn together.
The US will host 78 of the tournament’s 104 games across 11 cities with Mexico (three cities – Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey) and Canada (Toronto and Vancouver) hosting 13 games each. Here is the full schedule.
What countries are in Pots 2, 3 and 4?
Pot 2, based on Fifa rankings, will be Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria and Australia.
Pot 3 includes Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
Pot 4 includes Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand and the six outstanding qualifiers.
Ideally, Ireland draws a host nation, preferably the US or Mexico along with Australia and Qatar to have a real chance of reaching the last 32.
So, every country will know their possible routes to the final on December 5th?
Correct. The venues and kick-off times will be confirmed on December 6th.
From the 12 groups, the winners and runners-up are joined by the best third-place finishers.
Where is the final again?
The final takes place on July 19th at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Locally, it is called Meadowlands.
Why does that sound familiar?
It used to be called The Giants Stadium after the American football team, which is where Ray Houghton scored the goal to beat Italy at the World Cup in 1994. The stadium was demolished in 2010 and replaced with MetLife for $1.6 billion.
Does this World Cup eventually become a US tournament?
Yes, from the quarter-finals on, every game is held in a US city.
What’s next?
After the draw we must wait until March 26th and the playoff semi-final in Prague.
