The draw for the qualifying groups for the 2018 World Cup in Russia takes place today, and with Martin O'Neill's side among the fourth tier of seeds, the path to the tournament could prove difficult.
The ceremony takes place at 4pm today Irish time, with the European draw likely to start at 5.30pm.
52 of the 53 teams from UEFA go into the draw, all except Russia, who qualify automatically as hosts. With three tiers of high-quality opponents ahead of Ireland in the seeding, the dreaded group of death could await O'Neill and his charges, but there are several scenarios that could play out, depending on the draw.
There will be seven groups containing six teams, and two groups of five teams. The nine winners of each group will qualify automatically for the tournament. That leaves four qualifying spots up for grabs, and only the best eight runners-up will enter a knockout competition to see who will progress to the World Cup, meaning that there is one group where only one team will progress.
The teams are divided up depending on their rankings into 6 different pots, which are as follows:
Pot 1: Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Romania, England, Wales, Portugal, Spain, Croatia
Pot 2: Italy, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, France, Iceland, Denmark, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Pot 3: Poland, Ukraine, Scotland, Hungary, Sweden, Albania, N Ireland, Serbia, Greece
Pot 4: Turkey, Slovenia, Israel, Republic of Ireland, Norway, Bulgaria, Faroe Islands, Montenegro, Estonia
Pot 5: Cyprus, Latvia, Armenia, Finland, Belarus, Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Moldova
Pot 6: Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Georgia, Malta, San Marino, Andorra
The seedings mean that the road to Russia could be rocky indeed, so here are the best and worst case scenarios for Ireland.
Best case scenario:
Romania
Iceland
Greece
Republic of Ireland
Lithuania
Andorra
It's a long time since Greece won Euro 2004, and two recent defeats against the Faroe Islands suggest that the team is not exactly at their peak. Iceland's form sees them top their group, but they are the team in that pot with the least players involved at the highest level with their clubs. Lithuania are hardly a bad side and would be tricky, but other difficult away trips would prove to be just as tough, if not more so, while Andorra are the lowest ranked side at the moment.
Worst case scenario:
Germany
Italy
Poland
Republic of Ireland
Cyprus
Georgia
Germany and Italy are obvious enough, old foes with whom we are far too familiar at this point. Perhaps Ireland's lowest footballing moment in recent memory took place in Cyprus, a team that is particularly difficult to beat at home, while from this campaign, we know that games against Poland and Georgia are not to be taken lightly, given that it took a very late Aiden McGeady goal to get the three points in Tbilisi.
While that is the worst scenario, Pot 2 contains other incredibly talented and difficult opponents, such as France and Austria, while Pot 3 contains very tricky sides like Serbia, Scotland and Sweden. All that means that there are a number of difficult combinations that could await Ireland in this evening's draw.
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