Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson believes that his side could progress from the World Cup group they were drawn in, should they qualify for the tournament.
At the draw in Washington today, the winner of the UEFA play-off D, was drawn in a group with co-hosts Mexico, South Africa and South Korea.
Ireland are aiming to be the team that emerges from the UEFA play-off and will will take on the Czech Republic in the play-off semi-final in March, with Denmark or North Macedonia awaiting in the final five days later.
Win both games and they book their ticket to next summer's World Cup.
Hallgrimsson was pleased to see Ireland potentially drawn in a group with one of the host nations, and while he admitted that he had hoped to face the USA, he's happy to be grouped with Mexico, should his side qualify.
Reacting to the draw, Hallgrimsson said: "I'm excited. I know we're not in it yet, but I'm excited. We were hoping to be in the US, because the Irish diaspora is in the US.
"I've played a couple of occasions in Mexico, it's a big stadium. So hopefully we will, if we get there, we will have a lot of Irish fans coming.
"I think it's a quite equal group in a way that it's not like a Brazil or an Argentina that normally are favourites in the group. I think it was good to be in the host nation group, whether it was Canada, US or Mexico.
"I know Mexico and playing in Mexico will always be a challenging match. But then again, they have very demanding fans in Mexico. Sometimes they turn on their team if it's not going well.
"It's a beatable group if we get ourselves in it. It's a group that we would fancy qualifying from, but we know we need to focus on what's ahead and keeping our eye and focus on the next opponent, which is Czech Republic."
While Hallgrimsson isn't looking past March's play-off clash with the Czechs, he remains steadfast in his belief that Ireland will be lining out to take their place at the World Cup time next summer.
"I am confident," he said. "I'm a positive realist, I would say, and I've said from the beginning that we are going to qualify. I'm not going to change that, but obviously it's a little disrespectful to all the other opponents we play until then to say we're there.
"That's how we have worked from day one, and that's how we will keep on winning, keep on working. We're not going to change that. We're going to prepare to be here the best way we can. We are investing in that.
"That's why we're here (at the draw). That's why we're taking all the workshops and all the ticketing meetings and logistics around the World Cup. It's going to be a big one, so we better be ready."
