With Heimir Hallgrímsson leading an FAI delegation to the Kennedy Center in Washington DC for the World Cup draw on Friday evening (5pm Irish time), it is time to dream a little.
Fifa will confirm every fixture, venue and kick-off time for North America 2026 on Saturday evening, so some flexible planning is required.
Let’s presume that Ireland beat the Czech Republic in Prague on March 26th and qualify for next summer’s tournament by overcoming Denmark or North Macedonia in Dublin on March 31st.
Ideally, Hallgrímsson’s side land in Group B or D with one of the co-hosts, Canada or the USA, and alongside the weakest second seed, Australia, and third seed Qatar.
READ MORE
In the draw the top seeds (pot one) will be drawn first, and on down the line until the fourth seeds (pot four, including Ireland).
Considering a maximum of two European teams can be paired together in each group, this increases the chances that Ireland will avoid the top European nations – Spain, France, England, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
By drawing Canada or the US, Ireland would play their group games at California venues in Santa Clara and Inglewood, with one tie in Vancouver on Canada’s west coast.
Canada, under former Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch, are a tougher opponent than the US, despite signs of revival under Mauricio Pochettino.
Ireland versus Mexico inside the iconic Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on June 24th is best avoided - older Irish fans will remember how the 1994 team wilted against Mexico in the Orlando heat at high noon.
Landing in Group B or D would be good news for Hallgrímsson and the players but a struggle for the broadcast rights holders in Europe as the first three matches and round of 16 would be on west coast time.
Hopefully Fifa will address the eight-hour time difference with early kick-offs to allow for evening viewing at home, although that would have the negative impact of increased temperatures for the teams playing.
If Ireland are drawn in our imaginary Group B scenario, they would start the tournament against Qatar – by some distance the worst team at the 2022 World Cup – on June 13th at the Levi’s stadium, the home of the 49ers in the Silicon Valley city of Santa Clara, a 45-minute drive south of San Francisco.
The second game against Australia on June 18th would take place at the SoFi stadium in Inglewood – home to both Los Angeles NFL franchises, the Chargers and the Rams – which is 15-minutes from the region’s main international airport, LAX.
The third match against Canada, after a three-hour flight up the west coast from LA to Vancouver, would be fixed for BC Place, which holds 54,500 in comparison to Levi’s capacity of 68,500 and SoFi’s 70,240.
Should Ireland qualify, the FAI will receive tickets for eight per cent of each stadium’s capacity, to be sold to season ticket holders in early April.
If Ireland top Group B, they would stay in Vancouver for their round of 32 match. By finishing runners-up, they would return to Inglewood. If they go through as one of the eight third-placed sides, they can expect to play at Foxborough, near Boston, or Santa Clara.
Group D would start against the third seed in Vancouver on June 13th, the second seed in Santa Clara six days later with the US game at SoFi on June 25th.
If Ireland are drawn in Group A with Mexico they would play in Guadalajara, Atlanta and Mexico City.
To the worst-case scenario then. Hallgrímsson’s team will struggle if they are drawn with Euro 2024 winners Spain, the 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco and a Norway team spearheaded by Erling Haaland.
A middle of the road group could contain Brazil or Argentina - which would be fun for the excitement factor alone - Japan and Scotland, a notoriously underperforming World Cup nation with eight eliminations in the group stage from eight attempts.
