The draw for the 2022 World Cup qualifying has been made, with Ireland receiving a reasonably favourable group.
They will be in a group with Portugal, Serbia, Luxembourg, and Azerbaijan. While there will some tough games ahead, it is fair to say that Stephen Kenny will be fairly happy that outcome.
All eyes will now be set firmly towards a path towards the tournament in Qatar, but what will Ireland have to do to reach it?
While we are all fairly familiar with how World Cup qualifying usually works, there has been some major changes to the format for this tournament.
In all, there will be 13 spots available at the tournament for European nations.
There are qualifying groups ten groups, with the top placed teams in each of those will automatically qualify for the 2022 World Cup. The is the way things have always been done, but there have been some changes to the play-off format where the remaining three spots will be decided.
The ten group runner-ups will go into the play-offs, but there will not be the two legged ties that Ireland have so often found themselves involved in in the past.
This is where the UEFA Nations League comes in.
The ten second-placed teams will be joined in the play-offs by the the two highest ranked UEFA Nations League teams from the most recent tournament that did not finish in the top two of their qualifying group.
We won't know the identity of those teams until the end of the qualifying groups, but considering that Ireland finished third in a League 'B' group, it would seem unlikely that we could get into the play-offs via this method.
The 12 teams will then be drawn into three separate four team tournaments, with one-off semi-finals and finals deciding the three tournament winners. Each of those will earn a spot at the 2022 World Cup.
This is the same format that we recently saw used for the Euro 2020 play-offs, although those spots were based solely on the UEFA Nations League. Who plays home and away in the semi-finals will be decided based on an open drawn.
In short, we will most likely need to finish in the top two in Group 'A' in order to get a play-off spot. With Portugal likely to take top spot in the group, it leaves Ireland and Serbia battling for that runner-up position.
In summary:
- The ten group winners will automatically qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
- The ten group runner-ups will go into the play-offs.
- They will be joined in the play-offs by the two highest ranked UEFA Nations League teams that did not finish in the top two in their groups.
- The 12 teams in the play-offs will be drawn into three four-team tournaments, with the winner of each one earning a place at the World Cup.
Simple, right?
SEE ALSO: Caoimhín Kelleher Has Made Remarkable Strides In Last 12 Months
