Republic of Ireland to face European champions Portugal in qualifiers for World Cup 2022

It could have been far worse for Stephen Kenny and his struggling side

Mon, 07 Dec, 2020 - 17:41

Brendan O'Brien

The Republic of Ireland has been landed in the same group as European champions Portugal at Monday evening's 2022 World Cup qualifying draw but, as these lotteries go, it could have been far worse for Stephen Kenny and his struggling side.

The Portuguese followed that inaugural international success four years ago by claiming the first-ever Nations League title but their form since has been mixed and they could only finish second behind Ukraine in the qualifying campaign for the delayed Euro 2020 tournament.

The Eastern Europeans claimed a draw and a win against Cristiano Ronaldo's side in that campaign. Also in that qualifying group was Serbia who finished third and who will now join Portugal and Ireland in Group A on the road to 2022.

The Balkan side lost just one of their ten qualifiers when making the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia but could only manage a third spot behind Ukraine and Portugal for the Euros. A young and talented team, their campaign could go either way.

Rounding out Ireland's group is a Luxembourg side that was the lowest of the pot 4 seeds and Azerbaijan who finished bottom of their Euro 2020 group after claiming just a single point. The travel aspect aside, that's far from the worst result for Kenny.

"It's an interesting draw, Portugal being European champions and Nations League holders, they have great pedigree," said Kenny.

"Serbia, on paper, are very strong and they haven't qualified for the Euros.

"Luxembourg, checking their results, they are a vastly improved team, got 10 points in the Nations League. Azerbaijan are a bit of an unknown quantity, we will have to prepare accordingly.

"It's interesting being a five-team group rather than six."

Kenny's side will go into the campaign on the back of a disastrous 2020 which saw the side fail to win any of their eight games and score just one goal.

The first series of qualifiers is to be played in late March with the five-team group helping to ease fixture congestion in the Covid-squeezed season.

"The concept of three games in a window is a new concept, initially with the Nations League and the playoff," said Kenny.

"The players have traditionally been used to two games in a window, so there will possibly be friendlies on some of the dates but we won't have three competitive games in a window which lessens the physical pressure on players, it's a help.

"We will approach the games positively, particularly in March, and try to have a good window in March. We can't rule anything out. We haven't qualified for a World Cup since 2002, nearly 20 years, it has to be our ambition to try and qualify, that's why we are here, to try and qualify for the World Cup.

"It's difficult with 13 teams from Europe but we are here to try and qualify and compete, that's our intention, to try and achieve that."

GROUP A

Portugal, Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan

GROUP B

Spain, Sweden, Greece, Georgia, Kosovo

GROUP C

Italy, Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, Lithuania

GROUP D

France, Ukraine, Finland, Bosnia and 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

Group A is now complete

1⃣ Portugal
2⃣ Serbia
3⃣ Ireland 🇮🇪
4⃣ Luxembourg
5⃣ Azerbaijan

What are your thoughts on that draw? 🤔#COYBIG | #WCQ | #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/wLpzS50IfW
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) December 7, 2020