Republic of Ireland Drawn Away to Czechia in World Cup Play-Off
The Republic of Ireland will have to navigate a tricky away tie against old rivals Czechia in their bid to reach the World Cup finals.
If Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side can win that semi-final, they will host the winners of the other last-four clash between Denmark and North Macedonia in a home final on 31 March.
Thursday’s draw placed Ireland in the same path as Wales, Poland, Slovakia and Czechia, but it is the Czechs who await the Boys in Green on 26 March, with the semi-final set to be played away from home.
Czechia, currently ranked 44th in the world, have won four of their eight meetings with Ireland since the breakup of Czechoslovakia. The most recent competitive encounters came in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, where Ireland lost 1–0 in Prague before a 1–1 draw in Dublin.
While Ireland will be relieved to have avoided Poland, the Czechia tie presents its own complications for travelling supporters.
The Czech FA have rotated venues for their qualifiers, using stadiums in Prague, Olomouc, Hradec Králové and Plzen. Although the host venue has yet to be confirmed, Prague is almost certain to be selected.
However, the expected venue — the Fortuna Arena — has a capacity of just 19,500. With the FAI only entitled to five per cent of away allocation, that leaves Irish fans facing the reality of roughly 1,000 tickets for travelling supporters.
