Ireland look to go one step further to 2026 FIFA World Cup tomorrow night

Republic of Ireland's Men's National Team look to take one step further towards the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Thursday night when they face Czechia in the European Qualifiers Play-Off Semi-Finals in Prague. 
 
Heimir Hallgrímsson's side will be looking for a fourth win in succession after a famous win in Budapest last November when Troy Parrott’s injury time winner against Hungary secured the Play-Off spot. 
 
Ireland will be looking to use the confidence and momentum from this win as well as a memorable win over Portugal into tomorrow’s clash at the Fortuna Arena in Prague. 

A victory for Ireland would secure a Play-Off Final spot against the winner of Denmark or North Macedonia next Tuesday, March 31 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. 
 
Match Details
 
Fixture: Czechia v Republic of Ireland
Competition: FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers
Date: Thursday, 26 March 2026
Kick-off: 8.45pm (local time), 7:45pm (Irish time)
Location: Fortuna Arena, Prague
TV: Live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
 
Match Officials
 
Referee: Glenn Nyberg (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Mahbod Beigi (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Andreas Söderkvist (SWE)
Fourth Official: Umut Meler (TUR)
Video Assistant Referee: Bram Van Driessche (BEL)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez (ESP)
 
Team News
 
Heimir Hallgrímsson has a full squad to choose from bar Liam Scales who is missing through suspension for the fixture. 
 
MD-1 Press Conference v Czechia
 
Republic of Ireland Head Coach Heimir Hallgrímsson:
 
“It’s just about being ready and visualising what’s ahead of us. It’s important now to do a session at the stadium, for example, just to feel the atmosphere, see the stadium, feel the grass, et cetera, knowing what to expect, knowing what they are saying and how they see this game.
 
“And then it’s just tactical, being ready for what they will throw at us and do what we need to do and just remind ourselves why we are in this position.
 
“I think we all know by now why we got good results and good performances, and that’s the key, not be over-ambitious tomorrow, stay on point, focus on why we are here and trying to improve that.
 
“We’re not overly-analysing them. We are just focussing on ourselves, trying to build on what we’ve been doing. We all know this coach will have played a different formation from what they have done before, so we're just planning and preparing for both.
 
“But we are not overly concerned about what he will throw at us, we know from his past games in his club, what he prefers, if he's going to do all of those changes to the national team, we just have to see.”

Séamus Coleman

"It's going to be tough, it's going to be fiery out there. Maybe two years ago, it would have been a lot for the young lads to take.

"But I think everyone now has stepped up and are prepared for what's to come. We absolutely, no doubt about it, understand that it's going to be a tough game for us but it's also going to be a tough game for them as well.

"We've spoken over the years, to be honest, as a group. The younger lads, like I was, would as the senior lads about those times.

"Over the years we’ve spoken quietly about it and now we’ve all got an opportunity together to make something special happen.

"Thursday night, as we know, is massive for us we’re all looking forward to it. We come in off the back of a good couple of results and hopefully those young lads can feel what we felt."

 
Match Facts | Czechia v Republic of Ireland 
 

• This is the first meeting between Czechia and the Republic of Ireland since a February 2012 friendly, a 1-1 draw at the Aviva Stadium with Simon Cox equalising late on for Ireland after Milan Baroš gave the away side the lead early in the second half.
• This is the second consecutive World Cup qualifying campaign that will see Czechia play in the play-offs – in March 2022, they lost 1-0 in the semi-final in Solna against Sweden.
• This will be the Republic of Ireland’s sixth World Cup play-off – they were eliminated ahead of the 1966, 1998, 2010 and 2018 World Cups, and progressed for the 2002 World Cup after eliminating Iran in the play-off.
• Czechia are unbeaten in their last 17 home qualifying matches for major tournaments (World Cup/European Championship), winning 13 and drawing four since a 2-1 defeat to Germany in September 2017 in World Cup qualifying.
• Republic of Ireland have won their last three games in a row, all in World Cup qualifying. They haven’t won four games in a row since May/June 2011, while in competitive fixtures they last managed that between November 2006 and March 2007, all in European Championship qualifiers.
• Troy Parrott has scored five goals in his last two games for the Republic of Ireland, netting two against Portugal and a hat-trick against Hungary. He’s the fourth player to net 2+ goals in consecutive Eire appearances, after Jimmy Dunne (May 1936), Robbie Keane (June 2013) and Callum Robinson (October 2021); no one has achieved that in three games in a row.
• Ireland vice-captain Séamus Coleman will be aged 37 years and 166 days on the day of this game – an appearance would make him their eighth oldest outfield player, and oldest since John Aldridge in October 1996 (38 years, 21 days vs Macedonia).

 
Republic of Ireland Squad - Czechia
 
Goalkeepers: Caoimhín Kelleher (Brentford), Mark Travers (Everton), Josh Keeley (Luton Town).
 
Defenders: Seamus Coleman (Everton), Jimmy Dunne (QPR), Nathan Collins (Brentford), Dara O'Shea (Ipswich Town), Jake O'Brien (Everton), John Egan (Hull City), James Abankwah (Watford), Robbie Brady (Preston North End), Ryan Manning (Southampton).
 
Midfielders: Jayson Molumby (West Bromwich Albion), Bosun Lawal (Stoke City), Jack Taylor (Ipswich Town), Alan Browne (Middlesbrough), Jason Knight (Bristol City), Finn Azaz (Southampton), Harvey Vale (QPR).
 
Attackers: Troy Parrott (AZ Alkmaar), Adam Idah (Swansea City), Johnny Kenny (Bolton Wanderers, on loan from Celtic), Chiedozie Ogbene (Sheffield United, on loan from Ipswich Town), Sammie Szmodics (Derby County, on loan from Ipswich Town)