England handed the Republic of Ireland a big World Cup qualifier boost on Saturday evening as their 2-0 win in Austria ensured the Girls in Green will progress to round 2 of the play-offs if they beat Slovakia on Tuesday.
Ireland sealed a place in the World Cup play-offs on Thursday night with a 1-0 win against Finland.
As the dust settled on the celebrations, Vera Pauw's team were hoping for a trio of results to fall for them because the three best runners-up from the nine qualifying groups get byes to round 2, with the other six teams having to contest three round 1 matches on 6 October.
Serbia and Belgium had the chance to move away from Ireland in the race to be one of the best runners-up, but they both lost on Friday night - to Portugal and Norway respectively.
Ireland needed an England win to give them a chance of going straight to round - and they got it, as goals from Alessia Russo and Nikita Parris earned the European champions a 2-0 win at Stadion Wiener Neustadt in Vienna. The victory sealed top spot in Group D - and with it direct qualification to the World Cup.
The focus is now on picking up what would be a massive three points in Bratislava as Ireland continue their mission to make it to next year's finals in Australia and New Zealand.
The two winners of the round 2 matches with the highest ranking (based on results in the qualifying group stage and the round 2 games) progress to the World Cup finals.
The remaining play-off winner will go to the inter-confederation play-offs from 17 to 23 February in New Zealand. They they will be placed in a three-team group with two of the following: Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Cameroon, Senegal, Haiti, Panama, Chile, Papa New Guinea.
Winning your inter-confederation play-off group earns you a place in the World Cup.
There was elation at Tallaght Stadium after Lily Agg's header ensured Ireland took the three points against the Finns and guaranteed second place in Group A, but Pauw warned afterwards: "We're not there. We need to win in Slovakia to get a chance to skip the first round. So we will prepare as seriously as we will need to for that."
