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The Republic of Ireland will begin its World Cup qualification campaign in Serbia on Wednesday 24 March, with 2022 host Qatar placed in the qualifying group as a ‘guest team’.
Monday’s draw pitted the Boys in Green against Portugal, Serbia, Luxembourg and Azerbaijan in Group A, and matches will be played between March and November next year.
Stephen Kenny’s team will host Luxembourg for their first home game of the season on Saturday 27 March, while Qatar will be in Dublin next Tuesday 30 March for the non-competitive match.
With Euro 2020 in the summer, qualifying for the World Cup will not resume until September 1, when Ireland will face what will likely be their toughest test, away from home in Portugal. And that is followed by two more home games, against Azerbaijan (September 4) and Serbia (September 7).
In October, Ireland will travel to Azerbaijan on September 9, before facing Qatar (September 12) in their “away” match, which will be played somewhere in Europe.
The Group will be decided in November when Ireland host Euro 2016 champions Portugal in Dublin on November 11, before ending their group campaign with an away game against Luxembourg on November 14.
Ireland # WorldCup2022 qualifiers
March 24 – 🇷🇸 v 🇮🇪
March 27 – 🇮🇪 v 🇱🇺
March 30 – 🇮🇪 v 🇶🇦 (f)
September 1 – 🇵🇹 v 🇮🇪
September 4 – 🇮🇪 v 🇦🇿
September 7 – 🇮🇪 v 🇷🇸
October 9 – 🇦🇿 v 🇮🇪
October 12 – 🇶🇦 v 🇮🇪 (f)
November 11 – 🇮🇪 v 🇵🇹
November 14 – 🇱🇺 v 🇮🇪https: //t.co/7noipOOMiM– RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) December 8, 2020
The group winners will advance to the World Cup, with the ten runners-up heading to a playoff tournament that has only three spots available for the final.
UEFA confirmed earlier on Tuesday night that Qatar will be included as a guest team in Group A of the qualifying groups for the European World Cup to help them prepare to host the 2022 tournament.
The matches will not have points at stake and will not affect the group as a whole. As host, Qatar’s place in the World Cup is already assured.
The move reflects the approach taken by France for the 2016 European Championships it hosted.
Neither UEFA nor the Qatar Football Association immediately responded to a request for comment.
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