Ireland only have remote chance of England reunion in World Cup qualifiers

Republic of Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson during the UEFA Nations League B Group 2 match between England and Republic of Ireland at Wembley Stadium. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Ireland have been confirmed in the third pot of nations for the World Cup draw on Friday, December 13 but a series of restrictions narrows the field of opponents.

For instance, there’s only a 25 percent chance of Ireland sharing a group with familiar foes England. The same slim likelihood applies to fellow Pot 1 nations, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria.

Conversely, Ireland will have a 75 percent prospect of meeting one of the eight teams involved in March’s Uefa Nations League quarter-finals as their top seeds: France, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Croatia or Denmark.

Twelve groups will be split evenly into four and five-nation groups at the draw in Zurich, with Ireland confirmed in one of the smaller pools due to their involvement in the Nations League playoffs in March.

Heimir Hallgrimsson will be in Nyon on Friday when Ireland discover their opponents for that two-legged showdown, facing one of Slovakia, Armenia, Kosovo or Bulgaria from League C to preserve their status as a League B participant for the next Nations League cycle.

That criterion applies to all the other participants in the promotion/relegation duels, as well as the League A teams involved in the quarter-finals of the primary League A competition.

For Ireland, hence, there’ll be a pair of June friendlies as a conduit to the September kick-off of their four-team World Cup tilt. Five-nation groups kick off their campaign in March.

Hallgrimsson has spoken of the requirement for Ireland to extract points from the two teams seeded ahead of them to stand any chance of qualification. 

A limitation also applies on their Pot 2 opponents, with Sweden, Wales, Poland, Romania, Norway and Czechia all ruled out due to playoff commitments.

Therefore, Ireland can be pooled with one of Ukraine, Turkiye, Greece, Hungary, Serbia or Slovakia.

Of the Pot 4 possibilities, again there’s a greater opportunity of three countries over the other nine. That’s because Kosovo, Bulgaria and Armenia must be placed in four-nation pools.

All groups conclude in November 2025, with the 12 winners assured of automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup jointly hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico.

A playoff series will determine the remaining four places for European teams at the expanded 48-nation tournament.

The 12 group runners-up will participate in the play-offs, along with the four best-ranked group winners of the 2024/25 Uefa Nations League that did not finish their European group stage in first or second place.

Those 16 teams who enter the playoffs will be drawn into four play-off paths, with four teams in each.

Playoff matches will be played in single-leg semi-finals followed by single-leg finals within the same international window in March 2026.