WHEN IS THE DRAW
The draw for the World Cup play-off is on Thursday at 12pm in Switzerland. It will be live on RTÉ platforms. More details will be confirmed shortly.
FORMAT
There will be 16 teams in the play-offs. It consists of a semi-final and final. Each round is a single leg.
The 12 group runners-up from World Cup qualifying and the four best-ranked UEFA Nations League section winners that have not already qualified will be in the draw.
The 16 teams will be drawn into four play-off paths, with four teams in each, making up two semi-finals and a final.
WHEN ARE THE MATCHES
The semi-final will be on Thursday 26 March. If Ireland progress to the final, Tuesday 31 March is the date.
WHAT COUNTRIES CAN IRELAND FACE?
We need to wait for the qualification process to finish over the next 48 hours. Italy, Czech Republic and Albania are in there at the moment and Poland are likely to follow. The rest will be decided by the games to be played on Sunday and Monday.
Romania, Sweden and Northern Ireland will also be there due to their Nations League performance along with one more side. As it stands, Wales look the most likely, but they could become a runner-up and open the door to another team.
HOW DOES THE DRAW WORK?
The 12 group runners-up will be allocated to Pots 1 to 3, with seeding to determine the order.
Pot 1 and 2 will be home teams as seeds.
Pot 3 are unseeded and away from home along with Pot 4, which are the Nations League teams. So if Ireland are unseeded, we will not be playing a Nations League-qualified side.
WILL THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND BE SEEDED?
The seedings are done based on FIFA ranking. Due to the Republic of Ireland being 62nd when this window started, it's up in the air and needs some things to fall our way.
The Boys in Green would need to be in the top 7 of the 12 runners-up. We won't know for sure until Wednesday when the seedings are confirmed as our wins over Portugal and Hungary will move us up. FIFA have promised to issue new rankings on Wednesday.
There are crucial games over the next 36 hours to determine it.
COULD IRELAND PLAY AT HOME?
It all depends on our pot. We'll be at home if it's Pot 2 and away from home if Pot 3.
We could be at home in the final. There will be a draw for the home finalists on Thursday following the semi-final draw. One semi-final tie from the four paths will be selected as a home finalist.
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