What the Republic of Ireland must do to earn Nations League promotion
The Republic of Ireland wrap up their Nations League campaign against Slovenia at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Tuesday evening (6pm kick-off, live on RTÉ2).
Carla Ward's side have won four of their five games to date, the sole defeat coming away to the Slovenians in February. Ireland were hammered 4-0, and that result leaves them with a mountain to climb if they're to top the group.
The Group 2 winners earn promotion to League A, with Slovenia in the driving seat. If the two countries finish on the same number of points, head-to-head is the first criteria on which they'll be separated. That means Ireland need to win by four clear goals to match the Koper result.
If they do that, they will also have the same goal difference as Slovenia, so it'd come down to who's scored more goals. Ireland have scored nine and Slovenia have 12; therefore the Girls in Green need a four-goal swing. In other words, a win by four goals or more will see the Republic of Ireland finish at the summit.
Of course, that's easier said than done. Sasa Kolman's team arrive in Cork full of confidence. They have some quality operators, impressive pros like Lara Praanikar (Eintracht Frankfurt), Kaja Korosec (Paris FC), Zara Kramzar (Roma) and Kaja Erzen (Fiorentina) who've all played in the Champions League.
Even if the Girls in Green fall short in their quest, they're guaranteed to finish second and will head for a two-legged play-off in the autumn against one of the League A third-placed teams. As things stand, that would be either Austria (ranked 18th in the world), Iceland (13th), Portugal (22nd) or Italy (14th).
The big benefit of winning promotion to League A is felt in 2027 World Cup qualification.
Last October, Ireland got a very kind draw against Georgia in the Euro 2025 play-off semis having played in League A of the Nations League. Eileen Gleeson's charges finished bottom of a tough Nations League group but they still enjoyed seeded status for those Euros play-offs.
They'd be deprived of that luxury if they miss out on promotion this time around.
For now tough, the focus is only on Slovenia.
As Katie McCabe put it, "if we don't score the first one you can forget about the fourth".
Any kind of victory, plus a strong performance that offers evidence Ward's ideas are being taken on board, would lift spirits.
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