Ireland\u2019s Diane Caldwell and Amber Barrett celebrate last night\u2019s monumental win.
\nISLAMABAD
\nAS THE DUST settles on a famous night for the Republic of Ireland women\u2019s national team, the 2023 World Cup play-offs move into full view.
\nVera Pauw\u2019s side sealed the Group A runners-up spot with a 1-0 win over Finland at an electric Tallaght Stadium on Thursday night, and are now one of nine teams confirmed for next month\u2019s play-offs.
\nIreland round off the group stages against Slovakia in Senec on Tuesday [KO 5pm Irish time, live on RT\u00c9 2], with Pauw and co. stressing that they\u2019ll go for the jugular.
\nAnother win and three more points would have a direct impact on their play-off standing as they look to reach their first-ever major tournament.
\nA complex, convoluted route lies ahead, though. \u201cDon\u2019t sell the skin of a bear before you shoot him,\u201d Pauw stressed this week, referencing a Dutch phrase as she repeatedly refused to be properly drawn on the play-offs.\u201dIt is a very hard and long road to go still.\u201d
\nWith the winners of the nine qualifying groups progressing directly to next summer\u2019s finals, the group runners-up get stuck into play-offs from October.
\nOf those nine runners-up, the three countries with the best records will be seeded directly to Round Two. The six remaining countries contest three single-leg play-offs in Round One on 6 October.
\nIt\u2019s an open draw, so the games could be home or away.
\n As things stand, the Group C runners-up (currently Iceland) and the Group G runners-up (currently Switzerland) look set to take two of the three seeded places.
\nIreland are currently ranked outside the seeded places, but their fate would be in their own hands if the following results go in their favour over the next two evenings:
\n\u2022\tSerbia fail to beat Portugal (Friday, 7pm) \u2014 or, alternatively, Serbia fail to beat Israel on Tuesday
\n\u2022\tNorway beat Belgium (Friday, 7.30pm)
\n\u2022\tEngland beat Austria (Saturday, 4.30pm)
\nIf those three results go Ireland\u2019s way, they will go to Slovakia on Tuesday knowing that a win of any kind would guarantee them a seeded place. (A draw in Belgium v Norway, or in Austria v England, could see goal difference come in to play.)
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not beyond the realm of possibility that we will get one of those top three [positions],\u201d former Ireland international Karen Duggan told RT\u00c9 on Thursday.
\n\u201cIreland have to target three points in that Slovakia game, I think the less games we have to play the better!\u201d
\nAlso, don\u2019t forget: Slovakia held Ireland to a draw in Tallaght earlier in the campaign. Three teams will come through Round One, where the three best second-place finishers lie in wait.
\nThe two \u2014 of three \u2014 Round Two play-off winners with the highest ranking (based on results in the qualifying group stage and Round Two play-offs) will qualify directly for the World Cup.
\nThe remaining Round Two play-off winner will compete in the first-ever Fifa Women\u2019s World Cup play-off tournament, or inter-confederation play-offs, in New Zealand next February.
\n10 teams will compete for the last three qualifying spots for the finals
\nThe 10 participating teams will come from Asia (two \u2013 Chinese Taipei and Thailand have already qualified), Africa (two), North and Central America and the Caribbean (two), South America (two), Europe (one) and Oceania (one), with the play-off tournament to be played at Waikato Stadium and North Harbour Stadium, in Hamilton and Auckland.
\nThe likes of Cameroon, Senegal, Haiti, Panama, Chile and Papa New Guinea will be there. Should Ireland have to take this route, they\u2019d likely be the highest-ranked team there.
\n The Girls In Green are breaking new ground in terms of the World Cup, having never progressed past the group stages before.
\nThe closest the team has ever come to a major tournament was the Euro 2009 play-offs, when they fell to Iceland in a two-legged play-off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ireland\u2019s Diane Caldwell and Amber Barrett celebrate last night\u2019s monumental win. ISLAMABAD AS THE DUST settles on a famous night for the Republic of Ireland women\u2019s national team, the 2023 World Cup play-offs move into full view. Vera Pauw\u2019s side sealed the Group A runners-up spot with a 1-0 win over Finland at an electric […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281369,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-281347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n