IRELAND’S path to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil has been laid out with them set to face Slovenia, Turkey and Greece in next year’s Nations League.
Eileen Gleeson’s Girls in Green are back in League B for the second running of the competition following their relegation from League A in the Euro 2025 qualifiers.
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Previous to that, they were promoted from League B in the first ever Nations League last year when Ireland won all six games against Northern Ireland, Hungary and Albania.
But promotion again looks to be the requirement again if Ireland want to make the next World Cup, with the qualifiers heavily weighted towards teams in League A.
Gleeson said: “We now know our opponents for the next UEFA Nations League campaign, which will help us with planning and preparation for the games.
“Promotion to League A is the overall aim for the upcoming Nations League campaign to ensure we compete at the highest level and maximise opportunities to qualify for major tournaments.”
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UEFA have not yet finalised how the 2027 World Cup qualification format other than confirming that the four winners of the League A groups qualify automatically.
But the remaining seven places available for European countries will be decided by play-offs with 28 nations involved.
And that means that, similar to the Euro 2025 play-offs, it is likely that all League A teams will be guaranteed a play-off spot before the qualifiers even kick-off.
That has worked to Ireland’s favour in the past 12 months with the Girls in Green winning just one of six games in League A but now being in the play-offs.
And having easily dispatched Georgia 9-0 on aggregate in the first round, Gleeson’s focus is on the play-off final with Wales on November 29 and December 3.