Czechia v Republic of Ireland: Back Ireland and Parrott to keep riding the wave | OneFootball

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Czechs have turned to experience to end World Cup drought

While Czechia have been regulars at the European Championship, they have only qualified for one World Cup since the break-up of the old Czechoslovakia. That was back in 2006, and for veterans like Tomas Soucek, Vladimir Darida, Vladimir Coufal and Patrik Schick, this might be their last chance to qualify for the biggest international football tournament on the planet.

However, this is not a team that's in rude health. As recently as October, Czechia suffered the extraordinary embarrassment of losing 2-1 at the Faroe Islands. They won five of their eight qualifiers in a weak group dominated by Croatia, who pummelled the Czechs 5-1 in June.

Czechia lost in the semi-finals of the playoff tournament for Qatar 2022, going down 1-0 in Sweden. However, our friends at Opta tell us that the Czechs' home form is excellent, and they have put together a run of 17 home games unbeaten in qualifiers for major tournaments, a sequence that goes back to a defeat against Germany in 2017.

With coach Ivan Hasek fired after the Faroe Islands debacle, the Czechs and their sporting director Pavel Nedved have turned to a vastly experienced coach to get them over the line this month. The 74-year-old Miroslav Koubek has developed a strong reputation in Czech domestic football, winning a surprise title in 2015 with Viktoria Plzen, but he has no real footprint beyond Czechia.

This will be Koubek's first senior game at international level, and if Czechia qualify, he'll be the oldest ever coach at a World Cup finals. He insists that despite a troubled qualifying campaign, he's inherited a squad that isn't in disarray.

There's no doubt that Czechia have plenty of individual quality. Former West Ham right-back Vladimir Coufal is having a terrific renaissance at Hoffenheim alongside international teammate Robin Hranac, midfielder Pavel Sulc is having an excellent campaign at Lyon (11 goals and three assists), and Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick averages a goal every other game for his country.

Ireland chasing the improbable dream

The beauty of sport in general and the low-scoring sport of football in particular is that sometimes logic goes out of the window and a team finds something within themselves that you never knew was there. After years of angst and underachievement, the Republic of Ireland seemed set to miss out on yet another major tournament. To survive, they needed to beat Portugal at home and Hungary away, and there had been little indication in the early days of Heimir Halgrimsson's tenure that such results were coming.

Incredibly, a Troy Parrott double gave them a 2-0 victory against Portugal, who had Cristiano Ronaldo sent off for the first time in his international career. What followed in Budapest was even more extraordinary, as Parrott (who was arguably only playing because of an injury to Evan Ferguson) netted an historic hat-trick which included the crucial 96th-minute winner that shattered Hungarian hearts.

So here we are, with the Republic two wins from their first World Cup since 2002 (it's not clear whether Steve Coogan will play the role of Halgrimsson if they qualify), and their first major tournament since Euro 2016. The stats don't make pretty reading - the Republic have failed in four of their previous five World Cup qualifying campaigns - but the wins over Portugal and Hungary have produced an enormous bank of belief. Halgrimsson has already signed a contract extension to potentially take him through to Euro 2028.

Roma striker Ferguson is still out with injury, so Parrott will lead the attack. The former Tottenham forward has scored 27 goals this term for Dutch club AZ, including four in his last four matches. Key midfielder Josh Cullen is out injured, but veteran Robbie Brady returns after missing the qualifying campaign.

Confident Irish can at least force extra time

I know that Czechia have a strong home record, but this is not a vintage team and they have a coach who is taking charge for the first time.

We can back the Republic +0.5 on the Asian Handicap at 1.88, which means that if the visitors win or take this playoff to extra time, our bet lands.

Ireland have shown their incredible fighting spirit in recent games, and they are full of confidence. If they can beat Portugal and Hungary, they can beat a Czech team that is inferior to both.

Parrott an obvious choice but why turn him down?

Troy Parrott is in the form of his life for club and country, and has scored five goals across his last two internationals, delivering when his country needed him. He is a hefty 5/2 to score at any time here, and given that he's probably the penalty taker, that feels like an attractive price to me.

Alternatively you could double up Patrik Schick to have two shots on target and Parrott to have one at 2/1 on the Bet Builder. Schick has had at least two shots on target in five of his last eight international starts. Our Bet £10 Get £10 offer still applies on accas and Bet Builders.