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Troy Parrott pictured celebrating after scoring a third goal against Hungary on Sunday. Alamy Stock Photo
Boys in Green
The World Cup play-off draw is at 12 today – here’s who Ireland could be facing
It will be a tough away draw against Poland, Wales, Czechia or Slovakia.
TUNE IN, CROSS your fingers, and brace yourself, as we will will finally learn Ireland’s route to the World Cup at midday today.
A qualification play-off draw will take place in Zurich at lunchtime, and it will confirm who Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side must face on 26 March, and where the side will be travelling.
Most of us already know the broad outlines – Ireland are in Pot 3, which means the team will be away from home in the qualification ‘semi-final’ no matter who they draw.
The UEFA playoff pots are set 🔮
— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 18, 2025
Pot 1 hosts Pot 4 and Pot 2 hosts Pot 3—the winners advance to the finals to decide the final four European qualifiers ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/WeD5Ocd68P
Their four possible opponents for us are Poland, Wales, Czechia or Slovakia, all of whom finished as runners-up in their qualifying groups.
Poland: A technically strong, seasoned tournament side led by Robert Lewandowski; Ireland’s last meeting with them ended in a 1-1 draw in a 2018 friendly.
Wales: Familiar neighbourly foes; they beat Ireland 1-0 in our last clash during a 2020 Nations League game.
Czechia: A tidy, well-organised team with real firepower in Patrik Schick; their last clash with Ireland finished 1-1 in a 2012 friendly.
Slovakia: A strong side built around Milan Škriniar’s defence and Lukas Haraslín’s threat out wide; Ireland drew 0-0 with them before losing 4-3 on penalties in a Euro 2020 play-off.
The draw itself splits the 16 play-off teams into four separate paths, each containing two ‘semi-finals’ and one ‘final’.
Only the winner of each path qualifies for the World Cup. In each semi-final, a seeded team plays at home against an unseeded team.
The pots decide that seeding.
Pot 1 contains the highest-ranked runners-up, Pot 2 the next tier, and Pot 3 lowest ranked and Pot 4 the Nations League qualifiers. Pots 1 and 2 host their semi-finals; Pots 3 and 4 play away.
Ireland, in Pot 3, fall into that latter group.
The final, however, is a separate draw, so there’s a chance Ireland could play at home if they make it through.
Ireland’s FIFA ranking jumped slightly from 62nd to 59th this month following our two major wins over Portugal and Hungary last week, but not enough to reach Pot 2.
That’s why we’re facing a tricky away trip rather than hosting the tie in Dublin.
If we manage to win, we’ll then face the winner of a separate semi-final between a Pot 1 and Pot 4 team, with the venue decided shortly after today’s draw.
It’s a tough path, but Ireland has pulled off some very recent surprises, so don’t count us out just yet.
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