With Euro 2020 finally finished, a year on, as a result of the Covid crisis, all international routes now lead to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.
As Ireland travel to the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula to face group favourites Portugal, in normal circumstances, the qualifying campaign would just be getting up and running.
Alas, the rescheduling of the main European event resulted in the road to Qatar beginning before the Euros were completed, and Ireland now find themselves already behind the eight ball in their quest to qualify.
No points to show from the opening two games, with contrasting performances, as Stephen Kenny's side impressed despite coming out the wrong side of a five-goal thriller against Serbia, before slumping to a devastating 1-0 home defeat to Luxembourg.
It is 20 years since Ireland last graced the world stage and with only 13 European teams going through, automatic entry is only reserved for the ten group winners, with the second-placed sides fighting for the remaining three places through the play-off series.
In reality, the national side's only real hope of maintaining an interest in the overall picture of Group A is to target a second-place finish.
Portugal and Serbia have already taken points off each other, but Kenny’s side would still need to assemble a run of very good results to see them sneak past the side from the Balkans or Wednesday’s opponents.
Three qualifiers in seven days will paint a much clearer picture of Ireland’s status, starting with a tricky visit to the Algarve against a star-studded Portugal side.
Tonight’s game is quickly followed by two – what now must be described as – must-win matches against Azerbaijan and Serbia in Dublin on Saturday and Tuesday respectively.
In terms of players playing regular club football, Ireland are already considered a bare-bones outfit with many of the 25-man selection spending most of the early season avoiding splinters.
The three-game window makes it an even more difficult scenario for Kenny’s side to prove competitive in all matches, and while there would be an argument for resting some key players in Portugal, the reality will result in the manager picking his strongest XI and maintaining concentration on one match at a time.
A year into the job, Kenny should have a good idea of his best XI and while some key players are missing, it is probably only Enda Stevens and Callum Robinson who would be starters in Portugal from the absentee list.
Otherwise, the manager has most of those who have featured in the 13 games so far throughout the past 12 months, since that opening encounter last September away in Bulgaria.
As a result, the squad will certainly know what is expected of them and will be more than familiar with the Kenny way of playing, with a strong emphasis on possession-based football.
Ireland have yet to face a team as strong as Portugal in a competitive fixture during the Kenny era, with the England friendly game at Wembley probably the most comparable ahead of the meeting with Ronaldo et al.
That game may be best consigned to the history books, not only for what happened on the pitch - a 3-0 mauling, truth be told - but also for what went on off the pitch and gained notoriety with the now infamous 'video gate'.
Kenny, to his credit, did not choose to sit in and try to defend against England’s quality to secure a result in Wembley, and as a result of trying to play the game the right way, attacked Gareth Southgate’s side from the opening exchanges and arguably had the better of the opening quarter.
The manager has already ruled out parking the proverbial bus again in Portugal and will need to impress for a lot longer than 20-25 minutes if they are to have a chance of coming away with anything against the No 8 world-ranked side.
Kenny will still place a huge emphasis on defence and the team will need to really move as one unit behind the ball, preventing Portugal from playing in between the lines, and being very alert to the clever running of the home unit.
The away game in Serbia showed Ireland at their best under new management and Kenny will be hoping his side will have evolved further going into the game. He will be buoyed by the defensive options that are available, and it will be this unit who will set the tone for the evening ahead.
A safe pair of hands and composed on the ball, the inexperienced Gavin Bazunu has yet to put a foot wrong during his fledgling Ireland career and his presence will instil confidence in what is surely to be a back five sitting in front when out of possession.
Kenny actually has a selection headache ahead of the game in this department and needs to decide whether to throw the in-form Shane Duffy back into the fray.
Duffy’s inclusion makes a lot of sense for a variety of reasons dating back to vital away games such as the 1-0 win in Cardiff when the big Derry man was immense in defence, while he remains Ireland’s most viable attacking option during set-piece plays.
Seamus Coleman, Matt Doherty and John Egan will all surely be accommodated with Dara O’Shea and James McClean the others likely to be considered to start.
Throughout the rest of the pitch there will be a strong emphasis on energy, most notably among the midfield three, which means that Kenny will likely opt for Jayson Mollumby, Josh Cullen and Conor Hourihane, while Harry Arter may have a role to play when looking to replace like for like in the second half.
Up front, Adam Idah and Aaron Connolly could be asked to combine a 60:30 split with the Norwich man most likely to get the nod to lead the line.
That leaves one place for someone who might be able to produce that something special in what will otherwise have to be a very disciplined and hard-working team effort, while also maintaining confidence on the ball.
Daryl Horgan and Ronan Curtis are both in possession of a trick or two, but in reality, the one player who has it in his locker to produce something special is Troy Parrott.
A totally unfair ask, it must be said, to expect or rather hope for someone so young and still so inexperienced to do it on such a stage. However, you get the sense that Parrott would relish the opportunity, and should it not happen it will only be a case of nothing ventured, nothing gained.
As with the midfield unit, the bench will play a vital part up front if Ireland are to get anything out of the game, and old hands like Shane Long and target man James Collins could both be called upon – there is an argument for starting one or the other to lead the line instead of the youthful Idah, and it will be an interesting final selection by the manager.
Whatever XI are asked to line out at the Estádio Algarve, the likelihood is that it will be the home side who set the tempo for this game, knowing that they are a far superior squad to the visitors. They will show no fear of Ireland but will be wary to a certain extent and will expect a stubborn side in opposition.
A team full of superstars, playing among the top leagues around Europe, their form over the past 12 months suggests that they are not currently playing to their potential.
Two wins and a draw in their opening three qualifying games puts them in a commanding position to continue to perform to their favourites tag and top the group. However, they have been far from convincing, beating Azerbaijan as a result of an own goal in a slender 1-0 win, while falling behind to Luxembourg before fighting back to win 3-1.
The team may well have had one eye on the Euros during those March encounters, yet Fernando Santos’s side did not perform during the summer showpiece and only showed glimpses of their potential.
Portugal flattered to deceive in their 3-0 win against Hungary, scoring all their goals in the last six minutes of the game, they gave away some very soft goals in the 4-2 defeat by Germany, and needed two penalties to share the spoils with France.
It was just about enough to get them through to the knockout stage, finishing third in their group but were then unable to lift their performance for the vital last-16 outing against Belgium.
An embarrassment of riches, perhaps, as Santos appeared unable to decide on his best XI, while also highlighting the question that is being asked more often since claiming Euro 2016 as to whether the side performs better without Cristiano Ronaldo in the team.
Ronaldo will start tonight as he goes in search of that individual accolade for the international goals record, and many believe that he has more than a captain’s role in the team selection.
The returning Manchester United man led the line in that final game against Belgium and proved relatively ineffective.
It was only in the last 30 minutes of the contest that Portugal appeared to find the right blend in attack as Ronaldo moved left, with Andre Silva coming on up front, as well as Joao Felix being introduced on the right, while Bruno Fernandes joined Renato Sanches in midfield.
Thankfully for Ireland, Felix and Sanches are not part of the squad for this particular encounter, but a glimpse at those who are available to the home side - with Premier League stars such as Bernardo Silva and the in-form Diogo Jota - is a reminder, if needed, of the extremely tough task at hand for the Irish in the Algarve.
Follow Portugal v Ireland with our live blog on RTÉ Sport Online and the RTÉ News app, watch live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 7pm and listen to live commentary on 2fm's Game On.
