World Cup still the bigger goal even as Republic of Ireland learn Nations League playoff fate

Heimir Hallgrimsson described his side’s pairing with Bulgaria as “okay: not his favourite, but not the booby prize that would have been Slovakia either."

WORLD CUP GOAL: Ireland's Manager Heimir Hallgrímsson applauds the fans. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

The Republic of Ireland now know what they have to do to stay in League B of the Nations League – or rather, against whom – but Heimir Hallgrimsson is clearly mindful of the task that will follow it when his side makes a qualifying push for the next World Cup.

The Irish boss was in Nyon on Friday to watch the draws for the various Nations League playoffs and he described his side’s pairing with Bulgaria as “okay: not his favourite, but not the booby prize that would have been Slovakia either.

Ilian Iliev is over a side that has cascaded down the rankings. They now sit 84th in the Fifa ladder, against Ireland’s 63rd, but Hallgrimsson expects a tight two-legged, low-scoring battle against a team that kept four clean sheets from six in their Group C campaign.

“Equal,” was another word used.

That Northern Ireland put five by them is, he said, something of an “outlier". As was, he added, the Republic’s own five-goal thumping at England’s hands in Wembley last Sunday. The winner will play in Group B next time, the loser a tier below.

Ireland’s higher seeding has secured them a second leg at home in Dublin, something which Hallgrimsson agreed will be an advantage, but they will have to deal first with business in Plovdiv which is a two-hour drive southeast of Sofia.

That first tie takes place on Thursday, March 20th and it begs some practical questions of the visitors before the return leg three days later in Dublin. Time, it seems, is an ever more precious commodity in the compacted international schedules these days.

“We just met them after the draw and it's confirmed that it's Plovdiv. They were re-laying the grass before the last game, that's why they played the last game in Sofia. It's a better stadium, a newer stadium so they want to play there.

“Because it's the first game, it's a little bit tricky. Do we do Monday/Tuesday in Dublin and then fly, and do Wednesday, MD-1 training session there in the stadium, and then it's coming back home?

“Again, the tricky thing is, do we fly straight after the match or stay a day down there? It's now logistics work for the federation. They are going next week for a site visit, just to check the hotel and locations so we can prepare in advance.”

Hallgrimsson acknowledged the wider debate doing the rounds as to whether his side would be better off playing in League B or C next time, and framed it in the context of the better teams they will face in the World Cup qualifiers.

Playing higher opposition is always better, basically.

That World Cup draw will take place next month. Ireland are guaranteed a four-team group rather than a five-strong party precisely because of their unfinished business with this playoff next spring. With friendlies in June, their 2026 bid won’t begin until September.

Plenty could change between now and then.

Some players will be fit again, others will be injured. A January transfer window will have come and gone and the Icelander himself will have had time to meet his players around the UK and reflect on the first three windows and six games of his time in charge.

The other hope is that time will help heal the wounds left by that Wembley collapse, and that more players can follow Andy Moran who left the U21 side behind to make his senior debut amid the carnage in London last Sunday.

“It’s a long time,” he explained. “You can have a guy shining in the next two or three months. We will be looking at the options we have, not only these play-off games but for the future as well.”

See? That World Cup bid is never far from his focus.

Hallgrimsson used 31 players across this last Nations League campaign. Five featured in all half-dozen games and only three – Caoimhin Kelleher, Nathan Collins and Sammie Szmodics – started every one.

All told there were 23 starters in the games against England, Greece and Finland. That’s more than he would like and, if there were ten players unavailable this last camp because of injuries, then the gaffer is keen to lean on fewer bodies going forward.

Ireland will face two teams seeded higher than them in the World Cup qualifiers, regardless of how their Bulgaria assignments finish, but the former Iceland and Jamaica boss is confident that his new charges can make a major tournament for the first time since 2016.

"Yeah, I think so. The good thing is that we are in a four-team group. That is more or less 100%. Then we can use June for final preparation, more relaxed. We’ve talked about the June window for us.

“The teams that we can face especially from pot two are not teams that are much better than us, even though they are higher ranked. It gives me hope than we can do things.

"No matter who we face we will be ready when it comes to the World Cup, that we can get results.”