Republic of Ireland’s route to World Cup 2026 in full after play-off draw | OneFootball

The Republic of Ireland have discovered their route to the World Cup 2026 finals after the draw for the play-offs was made.

Troy Parrott’s stunning last-minute winner against Hungary sent Ireland through to a play-off behind group winners Portugal, keeping their World Cup dreams alive.

While Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side will still be savouring the glory they experienced in Budapest on Sunday, they are now among 16 remaining European nations whose hopes rest on March’s perilous play-offs, which will take place after the World Cup group-stage draw is conducted on 5 December.

From that contingent, only four will progress to next summer’s finals held in the United States, Canada and Mexico - and Ireland have discovered who whey will need to beat to reach a first World Cup since 2002.

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When do the World Cup 2026 play-offs take place?

The 2026 Fifa World Cup qualification – Uefa second round takes place next year in March. The semi-finals will take place on 26 March, with the winners of each ‘path’ advancing to the final on 31 March.

Both ties will be single-leg knockout matches, with the Republic of Ireland placed in Pot 3 for Thursday’s draw, alongside Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo.

Semi-finals

The Republic of Ireland will make the trip Czechia for their semi-final on 26 March.

Final

Should the Republic of Ireland defeat Czechia, they will advance to the final on 31 March to take on either Denmark or North Macedonia at home.

What is the full semi-final draw?

Path A

Italy 🇮🇹 v Northern Ireland

Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 v Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦 (home final)

Path B

Ukraine 🇺🇦 v Sweden 🇸🇪 (home final)

Poland 🇵🇱 v Albania 🇦🇱

Path C

Turkey 🇹🇷 v Romania 🇷🇴

Slovakia 🇸🇰 v Kosovo 🇽🇰 (home final)

Path D

Denmark 🇩🇰 v North Macedonia 🇲🇰

Czechia 🇨🇿 v Republic of Ireland 🇮🇪 (home final)

The draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place at 5pm GMT/12pm EST on Friday 5 December, at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. The US president Donald Trump is expected to be in attendance.