IRELAND WOULD BE best served by being drawn in a four-team World Cup 2026 Qualification group on Friday, according to Gavin Cooney, who was talking on The Football Family, the podcast for subscribers to The 42. 

“We are not actually fully guaranteed a four-team group. It’s highly likely that we get one but there’s been a little tweak in Fifa’s procedure of the draw, so there is a slight chance that we get a five-team group, which would be bad news for us on the balance of things,” Cooney said.

“If we get a four-team group, it means we won’t play any games in June which would be a good thing for us because our record in June in recent years is crap.

“The qualifiers this year are scheduled five weeks after the end of the regular Championship season, which is crazy because it’s halfway through Championship players’ holidays. It’s so unfair on them and it doesn’t afford them a proper break. They’ve lost all their match sharpness by the time the games come around.

“A four-team group, from that point of view, gives us a better chance of qualifying. We’re going to be third seeds in the pool so we’re outsiders as it is. If it’s a four-team group, it’s a sprint over September, October and November. 

“It’s the same length as a Nations League campaign, which is a bit mad for a World Cup and I don’t think it’s right.”

Cooney added: “But I also think the fewer games that there are quashed into a shorter amount of time, it does leave you more subject to luck. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but we need to get lucky to make the top two if we’re being brutally honest. Introducing more randomness suits us more. We want a four-team group and then we can worry about who is in it afterwards.”

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