Win or go home. That's the situation the Republic of Ireland find themselves in ahead of their final group game against Hungary in Budapest on Sunday.
Ireland's remarkable 2-0 win over Portugal at Aviva Stadium on Thursday night means that a win of any kind against the currently second-placed side will see Heimir Hallgrimsson's men leapfrog Sunday's hosts and secure a playoff place for a chance to head Stateside to next summer's World Cup.
Hungary edged past Armenia earlier in the day to leave themselves in a commanding position heading into the final round of games.
Ireland's task may not be an easy one but, as captain Nathan Collins pointed out after his side had seen off Ronaldo & Co, it's at least a black-and-white one. The Boys in Green know exactly what's needed to keep their World Cup dream alive.
"That's fine. It's simple now. We know what we have to do. We know we have a job to do," Collins told RTÉ Sport amid the euphoria of Ireland's best performance in years.
"We wanted this, we wanted a cup final on Sunday. And this is what we got. So we go again tomorrow. This game's gone. We prepare in the right way and we give ourselves a right go."
Collins allowed himself much satisfaction from the win over the fifth-ranked team in the world, achieved on the back of Troy Parrott's stunning first-half double and a defensive stand that saw Portugal run out of ideas as their talisman, Ronaldo, saw red for a petulant elbow into the kidney of Dara O'Shea.
"Unbelievable. Just so proud. Ecstatic for the team," Collins beamed. "We knew we had it in us. And finally getting one against a big team at home needing a big performance is unreal.
"The headlines will be grabbed by Troy Parrott with those two goals, but collectively players were putting their bodies on the line.
"We knew it'd be a tough game. We knew we'd have to defend low at times, put our body on the line.
"But our attackers were doing their defensive job and they got the rewards. Chio [Ogbene] going backwards, Troy even coming backwards, and once they do that bit, we'll get them chances and they took them well."
Ronaldo's red came with Ireland well in the ascendancy thanks to AZ Alkmaar star Parrott's brace, but it may have proved the final nail in the Portuguese coffin as the Irish held out for a famous win.
"Yeah, I didn't really know what happened in the moment, but you could see there was frustration building up within them, within them all," Collins said of the game's most controversial moment. "And that's what happens, football's a tense game.
"When the fans are like that it gets really edgy. We as a team are very calm. We stood up well in the circumstances and we done well. We drew from the crowd in a good way."
This Ireland squad have been under a cloud to an extent for much of this World Cup qualification campaign after a run of results that looked destined to see them miss out on USA 2026. But Collins always felt this is a panel that had a big result in them.
"I've always felt like that. And that's where the frustration comes when we lose a game of football," the Brentford defender said.
"Because we know how good we can be. So, when we put on a performance like that and we give ourselves a chance, we know we can go and beat anyone. And I'm just buzzing for the lads. We've given ourselves something now to fight for on Sunday."
Watch Hungary v Republic of Ireland in World Cup qualifying on Sunday from 1.30pm on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
