We can dare to dream of a World Cup spot
Ireland's Troy Parrott celebrates scoring a goal with Josh Cullen, who miss out on the crunch games through injury.
A single-leg play-off semi-final away to the Czech Republic in Prague now represents the most significant fixture of this generation, with Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side knowing that victory would leave them one home game from a place at the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The new play-off format is unforgivable. Sixteen teams were divided into four paths, each containing a semi-final and a final, both played over a single match. There are no second legs and no margin for error, meaning lose once, and the campaign is over. Ireland’s path sees us travel to Prague first, and should we come through that tie, we would progress to the Path D final against either Denmark or North Macedonia.
Crucially, a win in Prague would also hand Ireland home advantage in that deciding match. The winner of the Czech Republic vs Ireland semi-final is scheduled to host the final, meaning the Aviva Stadium could stage one of the biggest nights in Irish football in more than two decades. With qualification on the line, a packed Dublin crowd would provide a huge advantage for Ireland, and hopefully it will be enough to get us through.
Before we even think about the possibility of a great and historic night in Dublin, we have the tough task of having to go to Prague first to face a Czech Republic side who are trying to end their own barren spell of no World Cup appearance since they made it to Germany in 2006. It is a task made all the more difficult by the absence of some key Irish players.
The two standout names missing from the Irish squad are Evan Ferguson and Josh Cullen, who are both important to the team for very different reasons. Ferguson started the qualification campaign as Ireland’s number one striker and talisman, although he has since been overtaken in that capacity by the rise of Troy Parrott in recent months. It is still a huge blow for us not to have Ferguson, especially knowing that even if we make the World Cup, he is likely to miss that too.
A player who will definitely miss the World Cup if we make it there is Josh Cullen, who is recovering from an ACL tear in his knee. Cullen has been an unsung hero of this side and one of Ireland’s most consistent performers over recent years. His positional discipline, ability to recycle possession, and knack for breaking up opposition attacks have made him the team’s on-field organiser, and they have allowed other Irish players the freedom to be more creative and attacking, knowing they had Cullen as the insurance behind them if they lost the ball. Without him, Ireland risks losing both structure and composure in the centre of the pitch, particularly against a technically very good Czech side.
In Evan Ferguson’s absence, the responsibility in attack falls squarely on Troy Parrott, whose development over the past year has been one of the most encouraging stories of Ireland’s campaign.
Parrot was always highly regarded as a talented prospect coming up through the international ranks and in the Spurs academy but that talent turned into inconsistency and it has took a move to Dutch football at AZ Alkmaar and Parrot going out of his comfort zone to rediscover that confidence and ability that we all thought he had with him no longer just being a prospect but now Parrott has matured into a more complete striker. His pressing from the front, improved link-up play and growing confidence in front of goal have made him indispensable. The hat-trick he scored in Budapest last autumn, which secured Ireland’s place in these play-offs, marked a turning point in how he is perceived both within the squad and among supporters. Now, with Ferguson sidelined, Parrott is no longer the supporting option but the central attacking figure.
Who is going to fill Josh Cullen’s boots, on the other hand, isn’t as clear cut, and Heimir Hallgrímsson will have to work some magic with his team selection to do that. Luckily for the Irish boss, he has known since New Year’s Eve that Cullen would be missing, so he has had enough time to put a plan in place for his replacement. Hallgrímsson, to his credit, has turned Ireland’s fortunes around, especially in the final two group games against Portugal and Hungary, when nobody gave us a prayer of winning and making the play-offs, and who could blame them. He has just signed a new contract to cover the next qualification campaign, which will come under scrutiny if we were to lose and not qualify for the World Cup, but to Hallgrímsson’s credit, he fulfilled the brief he got when he came into the job, and that was to get us to a play-off at least.
I can’t remember the last time there was such excitement in the build-up to an Ireland game, and I just hope that all the heroics of last November won’t be for nothing come the final whistle on Thursday night, and we are still dreaming of a World Cup for another few days at least. There have been times in the last decade when many an Irish supporter may not have known or wanted to sit down and watch some games, but everyone I have been speaking to recently has already made their plans for Thursday, which shows you the spark around the international team is back and hopefully here to stay.
