The Republic of Ireland handed tricky qualifying group for 2026 World Cup

Ireland discovered their fate at the draw on Friday morning.

The winner of the Uefa Nations League quarter-final between Portugal and Denmark, which will be played in March, will go into Ireland's qualification group as top seeds.

The tournament itself will be hosted by Canada, Mexico and the USA - the first time in football history that the tournament will be hosted by three countries, and across an entire continent.

Ireland, who last qualified for the World Cup in 2002, were seeded third for the draw. As a result, Heimir Hallgrimsson's team were always going to be outsiders to qualify directly for the tournament in North America.

Yet, the draw, while it is tricky, arguably could have been worse.

The team that finishes top of the group will qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup, and the runners-up will go into the play-offs.

Ireland were competitive against Portugal during the qualification campaign for the 2022 World Cup, when they lost 2-1 away and played out a goalless draw in Dublin.

Denmark, the other potential top seed in the group, hammered Ireland 5-1 in a playoff for the 2018 World Cup. The last four meetings between the two teams have ended in draws.

Ireland also beat Hungary in the last match between the two sides - a 2-1 friendly victory last June.

And Ireland have won three of the four games they have played against Armenia - the only defeat coming in an away Nations League game in June 2022.

Ireland's qualification campaign begins in September 2025 and runs until November.

Here are the full groups:

Group A: Winner of Germany/Italy, Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Luxembourg

Group B: Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia, Kosovo

Group C: Loser of Portugal/Denmark, Greece, Scotland, Belarus

Group D: Winner of France/Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland, Azerbaijan

Group E: Winner of Spain/Netherlands, Turkey, Georgia, Bulgaria

Group F: Winner of Portugal/Denmark, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Armenia

Group G: Loser of Spain/Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Malta

Group H: Austria, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, San Marino

Group I: Loser of Germany/Italy, Norway, Israel, Estonia, Moldova

Group J: Belgium, Wales, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein

Group K: England, Serbia, Albania, Latvia, Andorra

Group L: Loser of France/Croatia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar