The Boys in Green are closing in on their lowest ever spot.
The Irish national team have dropped four places in the FIFA World Rankings following their back-to-back losses in the Nations League.
It hasn’t been the greatest of starts for Heimir Hallgrímsson and his team, and they have to wait until 10th October to right the wrongs of this month’s dismal displays.
Republic of Ireland have gone from being ranked 58th in the world to 62nd, just eight spots off the all-time low of 70th.
The latest drop marks the lowest Ireland have fallen since March 2015, when Martin O’Neill’s side were 66th.
Since then they have been as high as 23rd – from November 2016 to January 2017.
Considering the rankings affect seeding for the 2026 World Cup draw, Hallgrímsson will need some big performances from his team against Finland and Greece in October.
Elsehwere, the Finns have dropped one place to 64th after defeats to Greece and England, while Greece are up six places to 48th after their victories over Finland and Ireland.
The top-10 remains unchanged, with world champions Argentina continuing to lead the way, ahead of France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia and Italy.
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If Ireland were to miss out on Euro 2028, a home tournament, that would surely signal the lowest point for the national team.
Uefa have yet to confirm the qualification process, but given five countries – Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – will host the tournament, Ireland are unlikely to gain automatic passage to Euro 2028.
So, Ireland may suffer more pain in the short term if they lose to Finland, England and Greece over the coming months. The team will be relegated if they finish bottom of the group, and will go into a relegation play-off if they finish third.
