League A<\/b><\/p>\n
Group 1:<\/b> Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Serbia<\/p>\n
Group 2: <\/b>France, Netherlands, Poland, Republic of Ireland<\/b><\/p>\n
Group 3: <\/b>Spain, England, Iceland, Ukraine<\/p>\n
Group 4: <\/b>Germany, Norway, Austria, Slovenia<\/p>\n
From Mary Hannigan<\/b>:<\/p>\n
Once they earned promotion to League A of the World Cup qualifying process, the Republic of Ireland knew they\u2019d be up against it in the initial phase of their effort to qualify for the 2027 tournament in Brazil, but Tuesday afternoon\u2019s draw proved relatively kind – they\u2019re in a group with France, the Netherlands and Poland.<\/p>\n
The undoubted \u201cgroup of death\u201d is A3 which includes world and European champions Spain and England, respectively, but it was Ukraine from Ireland\u2019s pot that got landed with that challenge.<\/p>\n
France, who Ireland beat in Cork last year, and Poland were the lowest ranked nations in pots one and three, so that draw was as favourable as it could have been, getting the Dutch from pot two less so.<\/p>\n
France and the Netherlands will be be firm favourites to battle it out for the top spot in then group, with Ireland and Poland, who are ranked just one place higher at 26, likely to be slugging it out for third.<\/p>\n
From the FAI:<\/b><\/p>\n
The qualifiers will be played on the following dates:<\/p>\n
Tuesday, March 3rd | Match Day 1<\/p>\n
Saturday, March 7th | Match Day 2<\/p>\n
Tuesday, April 14th | Match Day 3 <\/p>\n
Saturday, April 18th | Match Day 4<\/p>\n
Friday, June 5th | Match Day 5<\/p>\n
Tuesday, June 9th | Match Day 6 <\/p>\n
Fixture, venue and ticket details will be confirmed in due course.<\/p>\n
France have a lot of world-class players, but Ireland did beat them at home in a previous Nations League campaign, so something to hold to there. Netherlands will be a tough opponent too, but Poland should be quite an even contest, just a place above them in the rankings. Definitely a better draw than the France, England, Sweden group that they got before in League A. Carla Ward will be fine with that.<\/p>\n
League A<\/b><\/p>\n
Group 1:<\/b> Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Serbia<\/p>\n
Group 2: <\/b>France, Netherlands, Poland, Republic of Ireland<\/b><\/p>\n
Group 3: <\/b>Spain, England, Iceland, Ukraine<\/p>\n
Group 4: <\/b>Germany, Norway, Austria, Slovenia<\/p>\n
Ireland avoid the group of death Group 3, but still plenty to cause them trouble there with France, Netherlands and Poland.<\/p>\n
League C is done, League B is next, with Ireland\u2019s previous opponents Belgium as top seeds.<\/p>\n
Northern Ireland have been drawn with Switzerland, Turkey and Malta.<\/p>\n
Next up is League A, which involves the Republic of Ireland.<\/p>\n
The draw is being explained now with a bit of customary waffling beforehand, League C will be first so Ireland won\u2019t be for a while yet.<\/p>\n
Mary Hannigan helpfully has a guide to everything that\u2019s happening and the various playoffs and permutations needed for Ireland to qualify for the tournament in Brazil, looking to make it back-to-back World Cups after qualifying for Australia\/New Zealand in 2023.<\/p>\n