When it comes to draws, Ireland usually get a raw deal. We had arguably the toughest group at Euro 2016, having got there off the back of the most difficult group in qualification. Ireland usually get tough groups at European Championships, in each of our previous two appearances, the sides who advanced at our expense from the group stage met in the final. It would be unsurprising if Italy and Belgium repeat the trick this time around.
Granted, these poor draws are usually our own fault for consistently languishing in pots three and four at seeding time. Following the Euros however, our draw for World Cup qualifying is looking decidedly doable. The top team from each group qualifies for the finals. with eight of the nine second-placed sides going into the two-legged play-offs. Here is our group:
At the Euros, Wales have impressed as a side with excellent team spirit and the game-changing excellence of Gareth Bale, but at the same time have looked relatively limited. In the absence of a top-class striker, Gareth Bale is frequently played up front, which has the effect of largely nullifying his threat. Wales were distinctly unimpressive against Northern Ireland in the last-16 and showed against England to be extremely defensively suspect.
Austria's surprising failure at the Euros is the most positive portent for Ireland. Tipped by many as potential dark horses, Austria ended the tournament bathed in white light, exposed as a side desperately reliant on Bayern's David Alaba. Alaba did not perform at the tournament, nor did their chief goal-getters Marc Janko and Stoke's Marco Arnautovic, meaning their goal-threat was non-existent.
While the ephemeral form of these players - particularly Alaba - is not a reason to be fully confident of our chances against the Austrians, their hapless goalkeeper should boost our confidence. Robert Almer was the only domestic-based player of those who played for Austria at the Euros, and his lack of top-level experience showed in his concession of a series of soft goals, particularly against Iceland.
Elsewhere, the opening group game away to Serbia will undoubtedly be a daunting trip, but the nation failed to qualify for the Euros following the abandonment of their game against Albania for that nasty drone business. They finished fourth in a five-team group, picking up just four points from eight points. The days of the adamantine, Vidic-led Serbia is no more, with the ageing Branislav Ivanovic and the feckless Aleksandar Kolarov the most recognisable of their players. Their most capped forward is Newcastle's hot-head Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Ireland should fancy their chances against Moldova, and while Georgia are admittedly one of the more difficult bottom seeds (we saw how tricky a side they were away from home in the opening game of the last qualifying campaign), but the away trip to Georgia does not come until September 2 2017, at which stage we will have just four games left.
Above all, however, the emergence of players like Jeff Hendrick and Robbie Brady, along with the team spirit and the experience of beating Italy and taking France all the way, means we should be optimistic.
It all kicks off in Belgrade on September 5.
