What next for Republic of Ireland after Parrott’s heroics? Wales or Scotland await in World Cup play-offs

Lewis Oldham
Republic of Ireland Parrott
Troy Parrott celebrates scoring for the Republic of Ireland.

Wales or Scotland could end the Republic of Ireland’s dreams of playing at next year’s World Cup as there might be a home nation tie in March’s play-offs…

It has been an extraordinary few days for the Republic of Ireland, who have gatecrashed the World Cup play-offs by making Cristiano Ronaldo cry, completing a remarkable turnaround to beat Hungary on Sunday and Troy bloody Parrott scoring five goals in two games.

Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side earned a shock World Cup lifeline by beating 10-man Portugal 2-0 at a lively Aviva Stadium, with goals from Parrott in either half setting up an all-or-nothing showdown in Budapest on Sunday for the play-off place from Group F.

Hungary are certainly no mugs and were the favourites, especially at home, against Ireland as Liverpool duo Dominik Szoboszlai and Milos Kerkez started.

The hosts had a 2-1 lead heading into the closing stages of the game, but the Republic of Ireland showed their quality and immense heart to remarkably turn the game around at the death; Parrott had the last action with a goal to complete his hat-trick in the final seconds of the match to secure second-place and a play-off spot for his side.

READ: 2026 World Cup Power Rankings as England calmly carry on but Portugal doubts emerge

Just look for yourself at the winning moment…

There will be sore heads aplenty in Ireland today, but Hallgrimsson and his players now need to turn their attention to the World Cup play-offs, which have been made a tad more complicated to accommodate the increase to 48 teams at next summer’s major competition.

In the UEFA bracket, the Republic of Ireland will be one of 16 teams competing in the play-offs, with the sides split into four pots as they vie for the final four European places at the World Cup.

The pots will be separated into eight seeded and eight non-seeded teams. Pot 4 includes four teams awarded a spot due to their performances at the UEFA Nations League, while the remaining 12 places go to the sides who finished as runners-up in their World Cup qualifying group.

FIFA’s rankings are used to determine which teams will be seeded, with the full list of competitors to be determined by the close of play on Tuesday night.

The Republic of Ireland are currently primed for Pot 3, though they could move up to Pot 2 if there is an improvement in their ranking and/or a couple of results go their way this week.

Ireland will certainly be hoping to be placed in Pot 2 rather than Pot 3 because the seeded teams are given home advantage in their one-leg semi-final, including extra-time and penalties, against unseeded opponents.

So, the four teams in Pot 2 will be drawn to face a side in Pot 3 at home in the semi-finals, while the sides in Pot 1 will host a Pot 4 opponent. It is also worth noting that there will also be a draw to settle which of the winners at this stage will have home advantage in the four finals.

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As mentioned, Ireland’s placement and their list of potential opponents are yet to be confirmed, but they are currently in Pot 3 with Albania, who finished second in England’s group, and Kosovo, who will remain where they are unless they beat Switzerland by five goals on Tuesday evening. So they will stay where they are and are due to be joined by Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In Pot 1, Italy are the only confirmed team, but Turkey, Ukraine and Poland are also primed for this group of teams.

As for Pot 2, there are no confirmed sides as qualified Czechia could move, while Wales, Scotland and Slovakia are the other sides who will be in this group as things stand. Pot 4, meanwhile, has Northern Ireland, Sweden, Romania and North Macedonia.

Therefore, Wales and Scotland are currently two of four possible opponents for Northern Ireland in an away semi-final, but this is far from guaranteed at this stage.

Scotland will qualify for the World Cup as group winners if they leapfrog Denmark by beating them at Hampden Park on Tuesday night. If they are made to settle for a play-off spot, they will be in Pot 2, barring the unforeseen scenario of four or more results going against them, which would move them down to Pot 3.

As for Wales, they will finish second in their group if they beat North Macedonia on Tuesday and would finish top if they win and Belgium lose to bottom-placed Liechtenstein, which is not going to happen.

Should Wales be made to settle for the play-offs, they, like Scotland, could end up in a different pot as they would be in Pot 1 if four results go in their favour.

So, again, Pot 2 will likely be where Wales and Scotland land if they are in the play-offs, so a tasty semi-final against the Republic of Ireland is certainly possible before a final against one of the other sides mentioned.

So, it’s as simple as that and it will all become clearer once the play-off draw takes place on Thursday, November 20.

F365 Features Republic Of Ireland