Ireland plays Czechia today, Thursday, March 26, in the European Qualifiers Play-Off Semi-Final for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Kick off on Thursday is at 8:45 pm local time, 7:45 pm Irish time, 3:45 pm New York time.
The match, being played at Fortuna Arena in Prague, will air live in Ireland on RTÉ2 and internationally on the RTÉ Player, with coverage also on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app.
Fans in the US can stream the game on Fubo or ViX Premium, while it will also be available on Amazon Prime in the UK.
If Ireland beats Czechia, the Boys in Green will play the winner of Denmark v North Macedonia in a Play-Off Final at home in Dublin's Aviva Stadium on Tuesday, March 31.
The winner of Tuesday's match qualifies for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be staged this summer across 16 cities in the US, Canada, and Mexico.
A nation holds its breath today as Ireland aims to qualify for its first FIFA World Cup since 2002.
The moment has finally arrived... 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛-𝗗𝗔𝗬 🤩🇮🇪
⚽️ | Czechia v Ireland
🏆 | FIFA World Cup 26 Qualifying Play-Off Semi-Final
⌚️ | 7:45pm (Irish time)
🏟️ | Fortuna Arena, Prague
📺 | @RTE2
📝 | https://t.co/lqqYL2vRRzA huge evening awaits ☘️ pic.twitter.com/BCj7Nym8Fj
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) March 26, 2026
Thursday's play-off semi-final is the first meeting between Czechia and the Republic of Ireland since a February 2012 friendly, which resulted in a 1-1 draw at the Aviva Stadium with Simon Cox equalising late on for Ireland after Milan Baroš gave the away side the lead early in the second half.
Ireland heads into Thursday's match on a high, having won their last three games in a row, all in World Cup qualifying. They haven’t won four games in a row since May/June 2011, while in competitive fixtures they last managed that between November 2006 and March 2007, all in European Championship qualifiers.
Czechia, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their last 17 home qualifying matches for major tournaments (World Cup/European Championship), winning 13 and drawing four since a 2-1 defeat to Germany in September 2017 in World Cup qualifying.
Thursday will be the Republic of Ireland’s sixth World Cup play-off – they were eliminated ahead of the 1966, 1998, 2010, and 2018 World Cups, and progressed to the 2002 World Cup after eliminating Iran in the play-off.
In particular, Irish fans will have their eyes on Troy Parrott, who became a legend after scoring five goals in his last two games, netting two against Portugal and a hat-trick against Hungary. He’s the fourth player to net 2+ goals in consecutive Irish appearances, after Jimmy Dunne (May 1936), Robbie Keane (June 2013), and Callum Robinson (October 2021); no one has achieved that in three games in a row.
Planning and preparing
Speaking during a pre-match press conference on Wednesday, Republic of Ireland Head Coach Heimir Hallgrímsson said: “It’s just being ready, visualizing what’s ahead of us.
"It’s important now to do a session at the stadium, for example, just to feel the atmosphere, see the stadium, feel the grass, et cetera, knowing what to expect, knowing what they are saying and how they see this game.
“And then it’s just tactical, being ready for what they will throw at us and do what we need to do and just remind ourselves why we are in this position, continue to grow and do the same things that we've been doing. That's kind of the psychology behind a game like this."
He continued: “I think we all know by now why we got good results and good performances, and that’s the key, not be over-ambitious tomorrow, stay on point, focus on why we are here, and trying to improve that. Not only this game, but continuously."
When asked about what he expects from Czechia, Hallgrímsson replied: “We’re not overly analysing them. We are just focusing on ourselves, trying to build on what we’ve been doing.
"We all know this coach will have played a different formation from what they have done before, so we're just planning and preparing for both.
“But we are not overly concerned about what he will throw at us, we know from his past games in his club what he prefers, if he's going to do all of those changes to the national team, we just have to see.”
Ireland's vice captain Séamus Coleman said: "We've all got an opportunity together to make something special happen.
"Thursday night, as we know, is massive for us; we're all looking forward to it. We come in off the back of a good couple of results."
Coleman went on to say: "It's going to be tough, it's going to be fiery out there. Maybe two years ago, it would have been a lot for the young lads to take.
"But I think everyone now has stepped up and are prepared for what's to come. We absolutely, no doubt about it, understand that it's going to be a tough game for us, but it's also going to be a tough game for them as well."
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