Ireland's Caoimhin Kelleher saves a shot from Ladislav Krejčí of Czechia in the final moments of normal time. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
21 mins ago
10:16PM
117 mins: Worrying-looking injury for Szmodics.
He landed very awkwardly after going up for a challenge.
The medical staff were on the scene very quickly.
24 mins ago
10:14PM
115 mins: Ireland make a fifth change.
Molumby is replaced by Szmodics.
That is possibly being made with penalties in mind.
It also means Azaz will drop deeper into midfield alongside Browne.
25 mins ago
10:12PM
114 mins: The play is stopped as a Czech player goes down.
It seemed to be the faintest of touches on him by Jimmy Dunne.
27 mins ago
10:10PM
111 mins: O’Shea does well to stop a menacing run down the right by Chytil.
Ireland have been better and had a bit more of the play since half-time.
Ireland's Adam Idah is tackled by Czech Republic's Robin Hranáč. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
34 mins ago
10:04PM
The second half has begun…
34 mins ago
10:03PM
That Idah moment aside, Czechia have had the better of extra time so far.
Penalties wouldn’t be a bad result for Ireland under these circumstances, particularly when you consider Kelleher’s excellent record at saving spot kicks.
68 mins: That’s Manning’s last act as he’s replaced by Robbie Brady.
Alan Browne also comes on for Taylor.
Ireland no longer have any players on a booking after those substitutes.
1 hr ago
9:12PM
66 mins: Manning is down after a nasty-looking collision.
He seemed to catch the shoulder of Provod with his head.
1 hr ago
9:10PM
65 mins: Czechia have committed 17 fouls to Ireland’s six.
Yet the only two yellow cards of the game have been shown to the visitors.
1 hr ago
9:09PM
62 mins: Ireland haven’t been as composed in the second half and are giving the ball away too cheaply.
Dara O’Shea has made two good defensive interventions in recent minutes.
1 hr ago
9:07PM
61 mins: Czechia have a corner as O’Brien heads it behind.
This already has the feel of a late rally. The hosts are getting plenty of bodies forward, and Ireland could potentially do serious damage on the counter.
1 hr ago
9:04PM
Elsewhere, Denmark are 3-0 up against North Macedonia.
So if Ireland win this game, they will almost certainly be playing the Danes at the Aviva Stadium for a place at the World Cup on Tuesday.
1 hr ago
9:03PM
57 mins: Czechia have definitely upped the intensity in this second half.
They are starting to look more threatening.
1 hr ago
9:01PM
Irish fans in Prague celebrate Troy Parrott’s goal…
Back in Dublin, Aungier Street bar Egans scrambled today to make sure they had two televisions in their usually tv-free room.
The Journal
The Journal
3 hrs ago
6:47PM
Our reporter David Sneyd, who is on the ground in Prague, has heard that around 2,500 Irish fans are expected to be in the home end alongside the Czech supporters.
This is the main away entrance for Ireland fans, just around the corner from the one above for Cat 1 tickets.
Latest update is Czech FA estimate 2,500 Irish in home end & have already made allowances to move 100 they know have bought tickets in the North Stand with local ultras pic.twitter.com/7933eMXBsR
Ryan Manning is in for the suspended Liam Scales, while Jack Taylor replaces the injured Josh Cullen.
Unsurprisingly, Caoimhin Kelleher is in goal, with Seamus Coleman and Manning the wing backs either side of Jake O’Brien, Nathan Collins and Dara O’Shea at the back.
Jayson Molumby partners Taylor in midfield, with Chiedozie Ogbene partnering Finn Azaz behind Troy Parrott.
STARTING XI | Czechia v Ireland
Ryan Manning & Jack Taylor the only two changes from the side that beat Hungary in November 💪
Kick-off in 90 minutes, with a packed away end supporting us. Let’s hear you 💚🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/5A4Ie6rwOa
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) March 26, 2026
There’s no sign of West Ham’s Tomas Soucek in Czechia’s starting line-up. Former captain Vladimír Darida is in midfield instead.
While thousands of Ireland fans have made the exodus to Prague for the must-win playoff, pubs around the country are filling up with supporters to cheer on the boys in green from home.
Here’s how The Bleeding Horse on Dublin’s Camden Street is currently looking.
The Journal
The Journal
Speaking to The Journal yesterday, the pub’s manager Barbara said it would be a totally “different kind of day” for both staff and customers and she expects the atmosphere to be “amazing”.
4 hrs ago
6:00PM
Put 'em Under Pressure
With under two hours to go, here’s some essential pre-match listening.
4 hrs ago
5:53PM
As have some of the passengers passing through the airport today…
Speaking of which, our reporter David Sneyd is outside the Fortuna Arena with some of the lucky 1,000 fans who managed to bag tickets.
Just two hours and fifteen minutes to go.
Some of the 1,000 Ireland fans waiting at the gates of the away end. Plenty more will be dotted around the home section for this World Cup play-off semi-final with Czechia.
“This is Ireland’s biggest international soccer match in years and viewers in the North are locked out from watching it on the national broadcaster,” he told the Dáil.
For those of you in the north who do want to watch, tonight’s game will be streamed on Amazon Prime Video in the North.
Oh, and Northern Ireland are playing Italy too should that be your allegiance, a game that is being shown on the BBC.
Secondly, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon who represents Troy Parrott’s home patch of Portland Place, made the point that any sporting success from the area, which also bosts double Olympic gold medalist Kellie Harrington, is not down to facilities.
There “is not a single full-sized football pitch in Dublin’s inner city, north or south,” he said, adding “besides Croke Park”.
5 hrs ago
4:51PM
Czeching out the opposition
One of the big unknowns about tonight is exactly what mood the Czechs will be in for the game.
As a team, their home record is impressive, with 15 wins from their last 18 games and just two defeats in that time.
However, the has been some on an off the pitch disquiet that could be distracting.
A humbling 2-1 loss away to the Faroe Islands during qualifying led to recrimination among players, fans and the football association.
First, the captain was stripped of the armband. Then the manager was sacked and after missing out on at least three of preferred replacements, they settled for 74-year-old veteran boss Miroslav Koubek.
The scandal only affects some lower league teams in the country, so none of the players or management of the national team are affected, but it’s certainly cast a bit of a shadow over the Czechs in the build up to tonight’s match.
Now in saying this, 20 years ago this year Italian club football was engulfed in a much more high-profile match fixing scandal and the national team went on to win the World Cup that year. So let’s not be getting ahead of ourselves.
6 hrs ago
4:29PM
‘Tá an Náisiún ar Chipíní’
In case you were wondering, the Irish for ‘A Nation Holds its Breath’ is ‘Tá an Náisiún ar Chipíní’.
The inconic George Hamilton line of commentary came just before David O’Leary slotted the penalty to send Ireland through to the World Cup quarter-finals in Italia ’90.
It may serve as the inspiration for RTÉ’s Garry Mac Donncha as he delivers the commentary as Gaeilge for tonight’s crucial World Cup qualifier in Prague.
The Conamara man was also behind the mic for the Irish language commentary for Ireland’s recent rugby Six Nations’ victories against England, Wales and Scotland.
In case you were wondering, the match is live on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player tonight from 7pm (kick off 7.45pm), with Darragh Maloney, Didi Hamann and Shay Given all in Prague for the occasion.
A rare outside broadcast for the panel which usually watches from the studio in Montrose.
6 hrs ago
4:16PM
For the 489th time
Excuse me, I was distracted there for four minutes and eleven seconds.
Something to really get you fired up.
90+5mins: 🇭🇺 2-3 🇮🇪
Ireland holds its breath, on the last throw of the dice... Hattrick for Parrott 😮😮😮😮😮😮😮
His mother Jennifer is in the Czech capital to cheer on his son and the rest of the team and she told our reporter David Sneyd that she text him this morning but didn’t want to add to any match day nerves.
“I always say good morning and he texts me back. But I don’t want to ring him and ask him questions, I don’t want him to get more nervous. I just want him to work and do what he always does, work and play his football,” Jennifer says.
I know today is a big day but I want it a little bit more normal for him. As if he’s going to play a normal match. I’m nervous myself and I don’t want to make him nervous.
Just in case you’re only tuning in now, tonight’s game will have a winner one way or another, with extra-time and penalties if required (imagine!).
Whoever gets through tonight’s game in Prague will have home game on Tuesday against either Denmark and North Macedonia (they are also playing tonight) and the winner of that tie will be going to the World Cup.
Believe it or not, if Ireland (or the other three mentioned) qualify for the World Cup we already know who we will play there.
Should Ireland progress, they will go into Group A .
Games with South Korea in Guadalajara on 12 June, South Africa in Atlanta on 18 June and co-hosts Mexico in Mexico City on 25 June are over the horizon.
The candles were brought from their home in Newry after the pair were at the Portugal match, which Ireland won 2-0 back in November, and James asked his Granny to light a candle.
Rónán Duffy here, not from Prague but from a Dublin that has the feeling everyone is waiting to get the day’s work out of the way.
It’s finally time, it’s been 130 days since Troy Parrott’s dramatic goal that secured Heimir Hallgrímsson’s Republic of Ireland team a play-off spot for this summer’s World Cup.
Such a wait for a play-off has not usually been the way FIFA has done things but if anything it’s meant the hype has built up to a truly unprecedented level for a play-off.
And why not? The World Cup is the biggest sporting show on the planet and we haven’t got a sniff of it in a while. Even if this play-off is the height of it, such was the way that Ireland got here the team deserves the country going a little bit loopy for all the right reasons.
We’re probably a few hours away from any news on Ireland starting line-up but there’s plenty going on in the Czech capital to keep us busy until then.
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LIVE: Czechia v Ireland, World Cup qualification play-off semi-final
LAST UPDATE | 9 mins ago
Czechia 2-2 Ireland
Idah scores. 2-1 Ireland
Krejcí scores. 1-1.
Parrott scores. 1-0 Ireland
Troy Parrott is first up for Ireland.
The penalty shootout will take place in front of the Czechia fans, though Ireland have the slight advantage of going first.
So that’s that.
It was fairly even in extra time, so it’s no surprise that it’s gone to penalties.
FULL-TIME: CZECHIA 2-2 IRELAND – PENALTIES TO BE PLAYED
124 mins: Brady’s delivery is easily headed clear by the Czechs…
122 mins: Jimmy Dunne wins a corner after good work down the right from Idah…
There will be four minutes of stoppage time…
120 mins: Ireland are forced into another change due to that Szmodics injury.
Harvey Vale is coming on for his debut.
117 mins: Worrying-looking injury for Szmodics.
He landed very awkwardly after going up for a challenge.
The medical staff were on the scene very quickly.
115 mins: Ireland make a fifth change.
Molumby is replaced by Szmodics.
That is possibly being made with penalties in mind.
It also means Azaz will drop deeper into midfield alongside Browne.
114 mins: The play is stopped as a Czech player goes down.
It seemed to be the faintest of touches on him by Jimmy Dunne.
111 mins: O’Shea does well to stop a menacing run down the right by Chytil.
Ireland have been better and had a bit more of the play since half-time.
The second half has begun…
That Idah moment aside, Czechia have had the better of extra time so far.
Penalties wouldn’t be a bad result for Ireland under these circumstances, particularly when you consider Kelleher’s excellent record at saving spot kicks.
HALF-TIME: CZECHIA 2-2 IRELAND
104 mins: Idah runs through on goal, but Hranác intervenes with a crucial last-ditch tackle.
It’s a big moment, and the Czech player celebrates as if he’s just scored a goal.
102 mins: Another Czechia change.
Sulc is off, and Kliment comes on.
100 mins: Czechia are looking the more dangerous and energetic team at the moment.
A Schick shot deflects off the arm of Molumby and goes wide.
The hosts appeal for a penalty, but it looked accidental and seemed to be outside the box anyway, and so it will just be a corner.
98 mins: A low cross falls to Souček, but the West Ham man volleys over from close range.
It would have been a controversial goal, as Brady looked to be fouled in the build-up.
96 mins: Two changes for Ireland.
Ogbene and Coleman go off.
Both have played well but look tired.
Dunne and Idah come on in their place.
94 mins: Ireland are about to make a change, it seems.
Jimmy Dunne is getting ready.
Denmark have beaten North Macedonia 4-0 by the way, so Ireland will hope to see them on Tuesday.
As I type, an audacious attempt from Parrott goes well over.
The first half of extra time has begun…
Something worth nothing.
While Czechia have made five substitutions, Ireland have used only two.
Czechia had a chance in the dying moments.
A shot fell to Krejcí, who couldn’t get any power into his finish from close range.
FULL-TIME: CZECHIA 2-2 IRELAND – EXTRA TIME TO BE PLAYED!
94 mins: Czechia have won a free and are putting everyone in the box…
90 mins: Finally, a Czech player is booked.
Hranác gets shown a yellow for chopping down Molumby.
Here’s a look at the Czechia equaliser…
There will be four minutes of stoppage time…
89 mins: O’Shea delivers a cross into the area, but Azaz is penalised for an infringement.
It looks like we’re headed for extra time.
Out of nothing, Czechia equalise.
A dangerous corner is met by Krejcí at the near post to head home.
CZECHIA 2-2 IRELAND (KREJCI 86)
Brady does well to shepherd the ball out for a goalkick after it runs away from Coufal.
The Czechs make further changes.
Provod and Coufal are off.
Sadílek and Karabec come on.
80 mins: A delivery is flicked on.
Parrott’s header is then turned behind by Kovár.
79 mins: Ogbene makes another good forward run.
He has been key in relieving pressure.
77 mins: Czechia look very frustrated.
They have really struggled to break Ireland down in this second half.
Just 15 minutes of normal time remain.
This is a huge period for Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men.
73 mins: Another Czechia change.
Chory is replaced by Chytil.
72 mins: Czechia continue to dominate possession.
But Ireland look relatively comfortable. The visitors have mainly dealt well with their opponents’ hopeful balls into the box.
70 mins: Azaz tries to slip through Parrott but overhits his pass.
Ireland will hope to get more of those types of opportunities on the counter-attack.
Here’s a look at that Molumby attempt…
68 mins: That’s Manning’s last act as he’s replaced by Robbie Brady.
Alan Browne also comes on for Taylor.
Ireland no longer have any players on a booking after those substitutes.
66 mins: Manning is down after a nasty-looking collision.
He seemed to catch the shoulder of Provod with his head.
65 mins: Czechia have committed 17 fouls to Ireland’s six.
Yet the only two yellow cards of the game have been shown to the visitors.
62 mins: Ireland haven’t been as composed in the second half and are giving the ball away too cheaply.
Dara O’Shea has made two good defensive interventions in recent minutes.
61 mins: Czechia have a corner as O’Brien heads it behind.
This already has the feel of a late rally. The hosts are getting plenty of bodies forward, and Ireland could potentially do serious damage on the counter.
Elsewhere, Denmark are 3-0 up against North Macedonia.
So if Ireland win this game, they will almost certainly be playing the Danes at the Aviva Stadium for a place at the World Cup on Tuesday.
57 mins: Czechia have definitely upped the intensity in this second half.
They are starting to look more threatening.
Irish fans in Prague celebrate Troy Parrott’s goal…
53 mins: So close!
Czechia half clear a delivery, it falls to Molumby on the edge of the area, and the midfielder’s powerful first-time shot comes back off the post.
That would have been his first goal for Ireland.
Chance for Czechia!
Coufal’s cross is met by Krejcí, and Kelleher has to stop the defender’s looping header creeping in by tipping it over.
This could be a long second half.
50 mins: O’Brien hangs a ball into the box.
Collins goes down as he tries to win the header, but the referee awards a free kick to Czechia.
The second half has begun…
Double change for Czechia at the break.
Darida and Holes go off.
Souček and Chaloupek come on.
The Munster rugby team are in Cape Town ahead of their game this weekend, and are among the interested spectators.
So, half-time and it’s been an encouraging opening period from an Irish perspective.
Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side were the better team early on and deservedly went ahead.
Ogbene has been causing problems down the right, while the hosts have also been struggling to deal with their opponents’ corners and long throws.
The one negative for the visitors was the needless concession of a penalty.
It was the type of incident you often get away with in English football, but there are evidently far stricter rules at international level.
Manning will rue that moment, but he has been decent otherwise, with his set pieces putting Czechia under significant pressure.
HALF TIME: CZECHIA 1-2 IRELAND
46 mins: Chory lays it off to Sulc, who doesn’t properly connect with a shot from the edge of the area, and it goes well off target.
Ireland have generally reduced the hosts to those types of moments.
There will be three minutes of first-half stoppage time…
42 mins: Manning slips it to Azaz.
The Southampton star turns sharply, but his tame shot is comfortably saved by Kovár.
41 mins: Great running by Ogbene.
He eventually wins a corner on the right.
The Sheffield United loanee has had a good first half.
36 mins: Ireland are pretty happy to sit back at the moment.
The hosts have had plenty of possession, but it’s mostly been played in front of the visitors.
33 mins: It’s been a scrappy affair since the Czech goal.
Not much of note has happened.
And here’s a look at the Czech goal…
And here’s the second…
Here’s a look at the first goal…
Schick finds the top corner with his penalty.
It’s poor from an Irish perspective to concede the spot kick in the first place.
Krejcí is going nowhere, but Manning needlessly pulls him back in the area, and the referee points to the spot.
CZECHIA 1-2 IRELAND (SCHICK 27)
PENALTY TO CZECHIA!
Another corner from Manning causes problems.
O’Shea gets a header at the backpost and Coufal unwittingly turns it into his own net.
There’s some doubt over whether it crossed the line, but the ref gives the goal.
CZECHIA 0-2 IRELAND (COUFAL OG)
Here’s a look at that penalty decision…
Jack Taylor has picked up the game’s first booking.
It’s for a cynical, late challenge on Provod.
The goalkeeper guesses the right way, but Parrott buries the ball into the corner, leaving Kovár with no chance.
That’s deserved, as Ireland have started stronger.
CZECHIA 0-1 IRELAND (PARROTT 18)
Judging by replays, Collins got to the loose ball ahead of Darida.
And the referee agrees! He points to the spot.
The referee is checking for an Ireland penalty after that Collins incident…
14 mins: Another O’Brien long throw causes problems.
Collins goes down in the area amid claims for a penalty, but the referee ignores Irish protests.
13 mins: Ireland have been the better team.
The Czechs have posed little threat and not really formed a coherent attack yet.
7 mins: So close!
Jake O’Brien’s long throw puts the Czechs under pressure.
It eventually falls to Collins, whose deflected shot hits the crossbar and goes behind.
From the ensuing corner, the Brentford star goes close again, but he cannot steer his header on target.
Very encouraging stuff from an Irish perspective.
4 mins: Manning’s corner is half cleared.
Molumby’s attempted shot from the edge of the area is blocked down.
2 mins: Decent start for the Czechs.
They win a header in the Irish box, but Chory is then penalised for controlling the ball with his hand.
As I type, Ogbene puts Krejcí under pressure and Ireland win a corner.
We’re underway…
There’s a big queue to get into Sinnotts Bar just off St Stephen’s Green in Dublin tonight.
Some pre-match reading for you…
Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrímsson speaks to RTÉ ahead of the game.
Who do you think will go through?
Poll Results:
Here’s a look at some of the team inside the arena in the last while.
Kick off is drawing closer, and some Irish fans are already in full voice inside the Fortuna Arena.
How are the nerves, everyone?
Back in Dublin, Aungier Street bar Egans scrambled today to make sure they had two televisions in their usually tv-free room.
Our reporter David Sneyd, who is on the ground in Prague, has heard that around 2,500 Irish fans are expected to be in the home end alongside the Czech supporters.
Ireland’s starting 11 has been confirmed.
Ryan Manning is in for the suspended Liam Scales, while Jack Taylor replaces the injured Josh Cullen.
Unsurprisingly, Caoimhin Kelleher is in goal, with Seamus Coleman and Manning the wing backs either side of Jake O’Brien, Nathan Collins and Dara O’Shea at the back.
Jayson Molumby partners Taylor in midfield, with Chiedozie Ogbene partnering Finn Azaz behind Troy Parrott.
There’s no sign of West Ham’s Tomas Soucek in Czechia’s starting line-up. Former captain Vladimír Darida is in midfield instead.
Ireland: Kelleher; Coleman, O’Brien, Collins, O’Shea, Manning; Molumby, Taylor; Ogbene, Azaz; Parrott
Czechia: Kovar; Coufal; Holes, Krejci, Hranac; Jurasek; Darida, Provod; Sulc; Chory, Schick
While thousands of Ireland fans have made the exodus to Prague for the must-win playoff, pubs around the country are filling up with supporters to cheer on the boys in green from home.
Here’s how The Bleeding Horse on Dublin’s Camden Street is currently looking.
Speaking to The Journal yesterday, the pub’s manager Barbara said it would be a totally “different kind of day” for both staff and customers and she expects the atmosphere to be “amazing”.
With under two hours to go, here’s some essential pre-match listening.
As have some of the passengers passing through the airport today…
They’ve dubbed themselves Troy Parrott International Airport, but it’s Pedro the parrot that Dublin Airport has shared a clip of.
Pedro made an unexpected landing at the airport last August and was later reunited with his owner.
He’s been getting into the spirit before the match.
Speaking of which, our reporter David Sneyd is outside the Fortuna Arena with some of the lucky 1,000 fans who managed to bag tickets.
Just two hours and fifteen minutes to go.
It’s doubtful, but just in case there was anyone in Praha still hoping to get their hands on a ticket…
How many times do you think these words have been sung on the streets of Prague today?
You know it’s a big game when it gets mentioned in the Dáil, and tonight’s fixture has been mentioned several times already.
The first time is over the issue of the RTÉ Player coverage of the game being blocked for viewers in Northern Ireland.
It’s down to broadcast rights but Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty TD says that equal access should extend to people north of the border.
“This is Ireland’s biggest international soccer match in years and viewers in the North are locked out from watching it on the national broadcaster,” he told the Dáil.
For those of you in the north who do want to watch, tonight’s game will be streamed on Amazon Prime Video in the North.
Oh, and Northern Ireland are playing Italy too should that be your allegiance, a game that is being shown on the BBC.
Secondly, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon who represents Troy Parrott’s home patch of Portland Place, made the point that any sporting success from the area, which also bosts double Olympic gold medalist Kellie Harrington, is not down to facilities.
There “is not a single full-sized football pitch in Dublin’s inner city, north or south,” he said, adding “besides Croke Park”.
One of the big unknowns about tonight is exactly what mood the Czechs will be in for the game.
As a team, their home record is impressive, with 15 wins from their last 18 games and just two defeats in that time.
However, the has been some on an off the pitch disquiet that could be distracting.
A humbling 2-1 loss away to the Faroe Islands during qualifying led to recrimination among players, fans and the football association.
First, the captain was stripped of the armband. Then the manager was sacked and after missing out on at least three of preferred replacements, they settled for 74-year-old veteran boss Miroslav Koubek.
Add to that, only yesterday Czech police charged 32 people over a football match-fixing scandal in the country.
The scandal only affects some lower league teams in the country, so none of the players or management of the national team are affected, but it’s certainly cast a bit of a shadow over the Czechs in the build up to tonight’s match.
Now in saying this, 20 years ago this year Italian club football was engulfed in a much more high-profile match fixing scandal and the national team went on to win the World Cup that year. So let’s not be getting ahead of ourselves.
In case you were wondering, the Irish for ‘A Nation Holds its Breath’ is ‘Tá an Náisiún ar Chipíní’.
The inconic George Hamilton line of commentary came just before David O’Leary slotted the penalty to send Ireland through to the World Cup quarter-finals in Italia ’90.
It may serve as the inspiration for RTÉ’s Garry Mac Donncha as he delivers the commentary as Gaeilge for tonight’s crucial World Cup qualifier in Prague.
The Conamara man was also behind the mic for the Irish language commentary for Ireland’s recent rugby Six Nations’ victories against England, Wales and Scotland.
Our Gaeltacht Correspondent Concubhar Ó Liatháin spoke to him ahead of tonight’s big game.
In case you were wondering, the match is live on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player tonight from 7pm (kick off 7.45pm) , with Darragh Maloney, Didi Hamann and Shay Given all in Prague for the occasion.
A rare outside broadcast for the panel which usually watches from the studio in Montrose.
Excuse me, I was distracted there for four minutes and eleven seconds.
Something to really get you fired up.
We can’t all be in Prague though so we have to settle with watching it from home.
Like Joey here, who’s just five months old and is maybe eyeing up World Cup 2044.
We’ve spoken to his mother who we asked if he fancies Ireland to do it:
“He reckons so, he’s feel positive.”
Good man Joey.
A few images from Prague to make you feel like you were there.
‘What a lovely day for a wedding?’
This newly married couple on the streets of Prague getting into the spirity of it all.
The aforementioned Troy Parrott may be the man of the hour, but it’s his family that is probably feeling the most nerves.
His mother Jennifer is in the Czech capital to cheer on his son and the rest of the team and she told our reporter David Sneyd that she text him this morning but didn’t want to add to any match day nerves.
“I always say good morning and he texts me back. But I don’t want to ring him and ask him questions, I don’t want him to get more nervous. I just want him to work and do what he always does, work and play his football,” Jennifer says.
Just in case you’re only tuning in now, tonight’s game will have a winner one way or another, with extra-time and penalties if required (imagine!).
Whoever gets through tonight’s game in Prague will have home game on Tuesday against either Denmark and North Macedonia (they are also playing tonight) and the winner of that tie will be going to the World Cup.
Believe it or not, if Ireland (or the other three mentioned) qualify for the World Cup we already know who we will play there.
Should Ireland progress, they will go into Group A .
Games with South Korea in Guadalajara on 12 June, South Africa in Atlanta on 18 June and co-hosts Mexico in Mexico City on 25 June are over the horizon.
If you haven’t come across these yet, it’s time you were introduced to Graeme and James Finegan and their Saint Troy Parrott candles.
The candles were brought from their home in Newry after the pair were at the Portugal match, which Ireland won 2-0 back in November, and James asked his Granny to light a candle.
As they say, the rest is history.
Rónán Duffy here, not from Prague but from a Dublin that has the feeling everyone is waiting to get the day’s work out of the way.
It’s finally time, it’s been 130 days since Troy Parrott’s dramatic goal that secured Heimir Hallgrímsson’s Republic of Ireland team a play-off spot for this summer’s World Cup.
Such a wait for a play-off has not usually been the way FIFA has done things but if anything it’s meant the hype has built up to a truly unprecedented level for a play-off.
And why not? The World Cup is the biggest sporting show on the planet and we haven’t got a sniff of it in a while. Even if this play-off is the height of it, such was the way that Ireland got here the team deserves the country going a little bit loopy for all the right reasons.
We’re probably a few hours away from any news on Ireland starting line-up but there’s plenty going on in the Czech capital to keep us busy until then.
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