As things stand, it's looking unlikely that we'll see Ireland in the European Championships in France next summer. The draw with Scotland in the Aviva has left things looking bleak to say the least.
As we've looked at before, Ireland's only real chance of qualification rests on us leapfrogging the Scots into third place and a play-off spot. If we're being honest, for that to happen, it looks like we're relying on Georgia taking points from Gordon Strachan's side in Tbilisi.
Not impossible, but far from ideal. And even if that did happen and Ireland were to pick up the required points against the likes of Germany and/or Poland, we'd still be at the mercy of the play-off draw. Four years ago we were blessed when Estonia emerged from the pot and, should we make it into the play-offs again, we now have a good chance of a similarly winnable tie (in theory).
UEFA have this week confirmed that the draw for the play-offs will be seeded, something which works in Ireland's favour. As reported by the Sun, UEFA's own rankings see Ireland continue to float relatively high and, as things stand there's four teams ranked higher than us in the third place positions.
However, with the best third place team going directly through to the finals, that means Ireland would sneak into the top half of the draw. As things stand, Albania, Norway, Slovenia and Israel sit in the third spots in their respective groups.
So (should the unlikely happen) they would more than likely be the teams that Ireland could face in the play-off. Granted, this is not the kind of crystal ball gazing that we would have liked to be doing at the start of the campaign but this is where we are so let's just cross our fingers and hope Scotland drop the points we need them to.
See also: What Ireland Need To Do To Qualify For Euro 2016 Following Scotland Draw
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