The four ways Ireland can qualify for Euro 2020 with three big games left to play

Niall McIntyre

About as unmemorable as you’ll get.

A good weekend, as the lads put it on the Football Spin, and you’ll have forgotten that Ireland even played Switzerland on Thursday night.

McGoldrick’s goal was huge, yes. McClean and Coleman’s work-ethic was inspirational, true. But the end product wasn’t spectacularly positive, nor disastrous and so we’ll truck along. What else can you say?

And that’s the trick in international football. To do very little but to do enough. Mick McCarthy’s men have mastered it.

The Republic of Ireland have played five games in their Euro 2020 qualifier campaign and they have yet to lose one.

They haven’t blinded us with their beauty but nobody’s complaining either. There’s a steel about them that moulds itself when they go a goal down and you can never rule them out thereafter.

“Is there a team that runs around more enthusiastically,” began Dion Fanning, “with greater heart than Ireland in the last fifteen minutes of a game that they’re losing…I’d like to see that team,” he said.

Some were calling them the ‘Invincibles’ of International football. We’ll take that.

I don’t think it’s too soon to call Ireland the Invincibles of international football

— Nooruddean (@BeardedGenius) September 5, 2019

So five played and we’re flying high. It’s not quite as good as it sounds though.

The Group D table is a little skewed by the fact that we have faced Gibraltar twice while Switzerland have the minnows to come (twice), and both of these games are in hand on us.

Either way though, we have three games left to play and our Euro 2020 dream is still in our hands. It’s all to play for. We couldn’t have asked for much more.

Remaining fixtures group D (Predicted scenarios)

Round 6

September 8

Switzerland v Gibraltar (Swiss win)
Georgia v Denmark (Danish win)

Round 7

October 12

Georgia v Ireland (Ireland win)
Denmark v Switzerland (Draw)

Round 8

October 15

Switzerland v Ireland (Swiss win)
Gibraltar v Georgia (Meh)

Round 9

November 1

Denmark v Gibraltar (Danish win)
Switzerland v Georgia (Swiss win)

Round 10

November 18

Ireland v Denmark (Draw)
Gibraltar v Switzerland (Swiss win)

Scenario 1 (Predicted results)

In this case (results above), Switzerland would top the group on 18 points. Denmark and Ireland would both be on 15, which would send it to goal difference.

Goal difference will be decided as follows.

Scenario 2 (Ireland get something in Switzerland)

If all the other results stay the same, and Ireland draw with Switzerland away and Denmark at home, while also beating Georgia, then we will be second place behind Swiss on 16 points.

This is the best case scenario.

Scenario 3 (Ireland qualify, while still losing to Swiss)

If Ireland lose to Swiss, they could still qualify if the Swiss beat Denmark in round 7 (while all the other predicted results stay the same.) Then Denmark would end on 13 points, while Ireland would be on 15.