A frustrating weekend for Irish football was made even worse last night when it was revealed the Martin O'Neill's side are set to be fourth seeds in next months qualification draw for the 2018 World Cup.
It's the first time Ireland will be in the fourth pot for a World Cup qualification draw since Jack Charlton's side qualified for the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Steve Staunton's Irish team tried to qualify for Euro 2008 as fourth seeds. That was the last time, Ireland started a qualification period from such a lowly position.
The draw takes place next month in St. Petersburg on July 25th. The seeding is based on World Ranking points at the end of this month, meaning with the international season now almost over, the picture becomes far clearer as to where Ireland's fortunes lie.
ESPN FC Editor Dale Johnson was the first to reveal the pots last night and it does not paint a pretty picture for the FAI ahead of next month's draw.
UEFA World Cup qualifying pot 1: Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Romania, England, Wales, Portugal, Spain, Croatia/Italy
— Dale Johnson (@dalejohnsonESPN) June 14, 2015
UEFA World Cup qualifying pot 2: Croatia/Italy, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, France, Iceland, Denmark, Bosnia-Herzegovina
— Dale Johnson (@dalejohnsonESPN) June 14, 2015
UEFA World Cup qualifying pot 3: Poland, Ukraine, Scotland, Hungary, Sweden, Albania, N Ireland, Serbia, Greece
— Dale Johnson (@dalejohnsonESPN) June 14, 2015
UEFA World Cup qualifying pot 4: Turkey, Slovenia, Israel, Republic of Ireland, Norway, Bulgaria, Faroe Islands, Montenegro, Estonia
— Dale Johnson (@dalejohnsonESPN) June 14, 2015
UEFA World Cup qualifying pot 5: Cyprus, Latvia, Armenia, Finland, Belarus, Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Moldova/Kazakhstan
— Dale Johnson (@dalejohnsonESPN) June 14, 2015
UEFA World Cup qualifying pot 6: Moldova/Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Georgia, Malta, San Marino, Andorra
— Dale Johnson (@dalejohnsonESPN) June 14, 2015
Ireland's poor qualification performance in recent qualifying tournaments has seen their seeding tumble. The side have fluctuated from being third seeds in 2014 World Cup qualification to second seeds in the current Euro 2016 qualification campaign.
The 52 teams in the UEFA section of the World Cup draw will be divided into nine groups (seven groups of six teams and two groups of five teams). The winners of each group will qualify for Russia 2018, and the eight best runners-up will advance to the play-offs where an additional four teams will qualify.
The excellent qualification campaign of Wales, is expected to see Chris Coleman's side join England in Pot One. Scotland and Northern Ireland are expected to join each other in Pot Three.
When the draw is made next month, Ireland could conceivably end up in a group with World champions Germany, France and Euro 2016 qualification opponents Poland.
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