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The Republic of Ireland will have to finish ahead of European champion Portugal if it wants to automatically qualify for the 2022 World Cup finals after today’s draw paired Stephen Kenny’s team with the Portuguese, as well as with Serbia, Luxembourg and Azerbaijan.
But while the long journey to Azerbaijan poses a logistical problem, Kenny will be reasonably satisfied with the group draw as he avoided some potentially tricky teams from Pot 2, Serbia drawn from that part of the draw to face Ireland.
And I would also expect a Republic of Ireland in top form to represent Luxembourg and Azerbaijan. Kosovo had been selected in this group, but due to the political situation in the Balkans, UEFA does not allow Serbia and Kosovo to be in the same group, so Azerbaijan was placed in Group A.
Being in one of five groups made up of five teams means that Ireland will play two knockouts, not three, in the first qualifying fight in March.
Ireland have played Portugal 13 times, just four wins in that time, with the last competitive encounter in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, Mick McCarthy’s team undefeated in those two matches.
Martin O’Neill’s team won a point from two battles with Serbia in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, a 1-0 loss in Dublin after a 2-2 draw in Belgrade.
The Republic has a perfect record against Luxembourg, five wins in five games, although the last time the nations met was in the Euro 88 qualifying campaign, while Ireland have never played Azerbaijan in the senior category.
The playoffs will be played on international dates in March, September, October and November next year, with the playoffs in March 2022 before the final in Qatar.
The ten group winners automatically qualify for the final, while the group runners-up enter a tiebreaker, along with two Nations League teams, for one of the three additional places available for the final.
World Cup 2022 – European Qualification Draw:
Group A: Portugal, Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan
B Group: Spain, Sweden, Greece, Georgia, Kosovo
Group C: Italy, Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, Lithuania
Group D: France, Ukraine, Finland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kazakhstan
Group E: Belgium, Wales, Czech Republic, Belarus, Estonia
Group F: Denmark, Austria, Scotland, Israel, Faroe Islands, Moldova
Group G: Netherlands, Turkey, Norway, Montenegro, Latvia, Gibraltar
Group H: Croatia, Slovakia, Russia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta
Group I: England, Poland, Hungary, Albania, Andorra, San Marino
Group J: Germany, Romania, Iceland, North Macedonia, Armenia, Liechtenstein
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