IT’S A FOOLISH BRAVE fan who would bet on Ireland qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil but in the build up to tonight’s game against Germany, the blinkered optimists have been clinging on to two words: “mathematically possible.”
In the interests of clarity, here’s the miracle Ireland need over the next few days if we’re going to be sunning ourselves on the Copacabana next summer.
State of play in Group C
FIFA.com
What’s the miracle?
With two games left to play, Sweden, Austria and Ireland are the teams in the hunt for Group C’s runner-up spot.
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In order for Ireland to finish second in the group, they would need the following five results to happen:
Ireland beat Germany tonight
Austria beat Sweden tonight
Ireland beat Kazakhstan on Tuesday
Germany beat Sweden on Tuesday
Faroe Islandsbeat Austria on Tuesday
That is the only combination of results which would ensure that Sweden, Austria and Ireland all finish level on 17 points — which is the highest that Ireland can get to with two wins.
Then it comes down to goal difference. As it stands Austria (+8) have the advantage over Sweden (+6) and Ireland (0).
Is that it?
No. Even if by some unlikely chance pigs start to fly and the above happens, that would only put Ireland in contention for a play-off place.
Because there are nine groups and only eight play-off spots, only the best eight runners-up go through.
And to make matters more complicated, in this mini-league, results against the bottom-placed team in the group don’t count (except in the case of France).
Wins against Germany and Kazakhstan would leave Ireland on a rather uncompetitive 11 points in this scenario. Keep a close eye on Group B and Bulgaria and Denmark over the next few nights.
We don’t use the word miracle lightly around here.
Like football? Follow TheScore.ie’s dedicated Twitter account @football_ie >
'Mathematically possible'? This is the miracle Ireland need to qualify for the World Cup
IT’S A
FOOLISHBRAVE fan who would bet on Ireland qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil but in the build up to tonight’s game against Germany, the blinkered optimists have been clinging on to two words: “mathematically possible.”In the interests of clarity, here’s the miracle Ireland need over the next few days if we’re going to be sunning ourselves on the Copacabana next summer.
State of play in Group C
FIFA.com
What’s the miracle?
With two games left to play, Sweden, Austria and Ireland are the teams in the hunt for Group C’s runner-up spot.
In order for Ireland to finish second in the group, they would need the following five results to happen:
That is the only combination of results which would ensure that Sweden, Austria and Ireland all finish level on 17 points — which is the highest that Ireland can get to with two wins.
Then it comes down to goal difference. As it stands Austria (+8) have the advantage over Sweden (+6) and Ireland (0).
Is that it?
No. Even if by some unlikely chance pigs start to fly and the above happens, that would only put Ireland in contention for a play-off place.
Because there are nine groups and only eight play-off spots, only the best eight runners-up go through.
And to make matters more complicated, in this mini-league, results against the bottom-placed team in the group don’t count (except in the case of France).
Here’s how that looks at the moment:
Wikipedia
Wins against Germany and Kazakhstan would leave Ireland on a rather uncompetitive 11 points in this scenario. Keep a close eye on Group B and Bulgaria and Denmark over the next few nights.
We don’t use the word miracle lightly around here.
Like football? Follow TheScore.ie’s dedicated Twitter account @football_ie >
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