Ireland's World Cup clash with Wales sells out

The Republic of Ireland’s World Cup qualifier against Wales in March at the Aviva Stadium is officially sold out.

The hotly anticipated game will see Martin O’Neill’s team take on the surprise Euro 2016 semi-finalists in a major test for both sides on the road to Russia, though whether Welsh wizard Gareth Bales is fit to play remains to be seen, as he continues his rehabilitation after surgery on his ankle.

Real Madrid expect him to return to light training next week and the player’s reaction will be closely monitored by Wales boss Chris Coleman.

Following criticism from Welsh supporters about their ticket allocation for the Dublin game, the FAI yesterday sought to clarify the situation, saying that last November they agreed with the Football Association of Wales (FAW) to provide 3,500 tickets for the Aviva Stadium. The same number of tickets would be allocated to the FAI for Cardiff game in October, but because this will be played in the 33,280-capacity Cardiff City Stadium, Irish fans will make up a bigger proportion of the crowd than will the Welsh at the match in Dublin.

The FAI also said yesterday that a special ticket package for the Wales game in March and the friendly against Iceland at the same venue four days later sold out in record time. This “phenomenal demand”, they said, “followed on the back of a record-breaking year for FAI season tickets, with the 2016/17 campaign reaching almost 14,000”.

The 2017/18 FAI campaign will be launched by May.

The Iceland game is not sold out, though. Tickets will be on general sale from February 1 via Ticketmaster.ie.

A positive start to Ireland’s World Cup campaign sees them top of their group on 10 points, two, four and six points respectively ahead of Serbia, Wales, and Austria.

Ireland’s qualifiers in 2017 for the 2018 World Cup are: Home to Wales (March 24), Austria (June 11), Serbia (September 5) and Moldova (October 6); and away to Georgia (September 2) and Wales (October 9).