UEFA Playoffs Preview: Path D (Denmark, Czechia, Rep. Ireland, North Macedonia) | OneFootball

The World Cup playoffs are here. These are crucial games that will decide which teams will ultimately book a ticket to the world’s greatest sporting event, and which teams will suffer heartbreak.

In Path D, we have Denmark, who look like the favorites to qualify for the World Cup. But they’d be making a mistake if they underestimate other teams in this path like Czechia, Republic of Ireland, and North Macedonia. After all, anything can happen in soccer, especially in one-off games with everything on the line.

Let’s take a closer look at teach team.

Denmark

Denmark are the highest ranked team in Path D, which is why they are the pundit’s favorites. After reaching the semis of Euro 2020, they suffered a disappointing group stage exit in the 2022 World Cup. So they will want to make amends for that this summer.

To do that though, they will first have to get two wins in the next five days. The Danes will be feeling that they shouldn’t even be here in the first place, as they were in such a strong position to qualify for the World Cup directly. However, Scotland leapfrogged them in the group standings in their final game of the qualifying stage.

To make things worse, the game was tied 2-2 in the 93rd minute, but Denmark gave up two very late goals in Glasgow. They will be hoping to avoid another heartbreak this month.

Czechia

In the early 2000s, Czechia were a strong team with players that earned a legendary status in the sport– such as Petr Čech, Pavel Nedvěd, Tomáš Rosický, Milan Baroš, Vladimír Šmicer, Jan Koller, etc.

However, since 2006 they’ve failed to qualify for the World Cup. So this playoffs present them a golden chance to get back to the tournament, and they will be feeling confident with the opponents they are going to face.

In their qualifying group, Czechia showed they are strong at home. It’s the away form that made them finish six points below the top, as they suffered a 5-1 defeat away to Croatia and a 2-1 defeat away to Faroe Islands. Happily, they will host the semifinal at home. And if they win, they will host the final as well. Is this their year? We will see.

Republic of Ireland

Just like Czechia, Republic of Ireland possessed a strong team in the early 2000s but they fell off a cliff in last 20 years as the talent pool dried up. They haven’t been to the World Cup since 2002.

The Irish are coming to these playoffs with a lot of confidence though, because they’ve won their last three games. Their World Cup dreams seemed far away until October, but Republic of Ireland managed to beat Armenia and Portugal at home, then went to Hungary and broke the hosts’ heart by scoring a 96th minute winner. It sent them to the playoffs, and ended Hungary’s hopes.

Troy Parrott is on fire. Not only did he score five goals in Ireland’s final two qualifying games, he’s netted 15 more for his club AZ Alkmaar since later November. If he is playing, the Irish will feel anything can happen. Of course, they will need to get the job done in Prague, and if they manage that, the final will be in Dublin in front of 50,000 Irish supporters.

North Macedonia

The Macedonians look like they are the weakest team in Path D. But don’t underestimate them, or you will suffer. Just ask Italy about what happened in 2022.

This year, North Macedonia are coming in to cause another upset, and maybe go even a step further to qualify for their first ever World Cup. To do so though, they will need to improve a lot from their recent showings, as the team is winless in last four games and their last game saw them suffer a 7-1 thrashing against Wales. Ouch.

North Macedonia will travel to Copenhagen to face Denmark first and if they do cause an upset, then the next destination will be either Dublin or Prague. Whatever happens, the Macedonians will feel they have nothing to lose as just getting to this stage is already a win for them.

Match Predictions

Denmark vs North Macedonia

It’s not quite David vs Goliath. But Denmark are heavy favorites coming into this one, especially because they are hosting the game. So losing this will be a massive failure for Danish football.

One thing to note is Denmark will be missing a few of their key players– such as Kasper Schmeichel, Jannik Vestergaard, Andreas Christensen, Rasmus Kristensen, Patrick Dorgu, Kasper Dolberg, Yussuf Poulsen, and Jonas Wind. That’s going to give hope to the Macedonians, and they will want to cause another upset like what they did to Italy last time around.

Even with those absents though, the gap between the two squads is massive, and Denmark should get the job done.

Prediction: Denmark 3-0 North Macedonia

Czechia vs Republic of Ireland

This one is a much harder one to predict. As mentioned above, Czechia are a strong team at home, while the Irish are full of confidence with Troy Parrott on fire.

When you look at both squads, the gap in quality is pretty thin. Czechia have players across Europe’s top leagues, while most of Republic of Ireland’s players are based in the Premier League and the Championship.

This game will be very close, with extra time and penalty shootout possibly coming in to decide who wins. With spirits very high in the Irish squad, they might just get the job done in Prague.

Prediction: Czechia 1-2 Republic of Ireland (after extra time)