Irish Saints discover World Cup play-off path
Southampton’s Irish trio of Finn Azaz, Ryan Manning and Gavin Bazunu have discovered their World Cup qualifying play-off path as they aim to reach next summer’s tournament in USA, Canada and Mexico.
Republic of Ireland will play an away tie against Czechia in a one-legged semi-final. Should they win that, the final will see them face Denmark or North Macedonia in a winner-takes-all play-off final in Dublin, with both ties set to take place in March.
It follows a memorable November camp for Ireland, who defied the odds to beat Portugal and Hungary, the two top teams in their qualifying group going into the last round of matches, back to back, securing the runners-up spot.
Shea Charles, who missed Northern Ireland's matches against Slovakia and Luxembourg, will hope to be available for his country for their semi-final away to Italy, with the winner set for a trip to Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Path A final.
Elsewhere, Joshua Quarshie completed two 90 minutes for Germany Under-21s, helping his side keep two clean sheets with convincing victories over Malta (6-0) and Northern Ireland (2-0).
That leaves Germany in second place, three points behind group leaders Greece at the halfway point in the qualification race.
Damion Downs played 74 minutes for USA Under-21s in a friendly against Serbia on Tuesday evening, as the hosts won 1-0 in Bačka Topola.
Jay Robinson, initially called up by England Under-19s, was forced to withdraw due to injury.
