Good. But not quite good enough.
Ireland did loads of good things in the Aviva Stadium on Monday night. Enda Stevens was brilliant. So was Matt Doherty. Shane Duffy hit everything that moved. McGoldrick is as clever a player as you'll find.
But it just wasn't enough. The good play didn't lead to enough chances. The few chances didn't lead to a decisive goal.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/1196547161971970048
It was our best performance of this campaign, but the poor ones left us with too much to do.
And so on we go to the play-offs. A stage every team in this group was guaranteed to get to before a ball was kicked. It's not too flattering, it's not much of an achievement but it's where we are now.
All is not lost, but it really is the last chance saloon now.
Euro 2020 playoffs
Rather than the traditional two leg playoff format, Ireland will compete along with three other teams in a mini-tournament style playoff format. It begins with a one-leg semi-final which takes place on
March 26.
The final then takes place on
March 31
Teams Ireland could face in the semi-final on March 26
- Bosnia
- Wales
- Slovakia
- Northern Ireland
Who will Ireland face on March 26?
Ireland will be playing against any of the above teams, except for Northern Ireland - because both teams are the lowest ranked, they can't meet until the final.
It all comes down to the result of
Wales v Hungary in Group E on Tuesday night.
- Should Wales beat Hungary - Ireland are heading to Slovakia for the semi-final. (Most likely)
- Should Wales draw with Hungry - then Ireland are taking on Wales away, if Slovakia beat Azerbaijan.
- Should Hungry beat Wales - then Ireland will play Bosnia, Wales or Slovakia. Draw for playoffs is made on Friday and opponents will be discovered then.
