Emmet Malone assesses the teams Steve Staunton's men will have to beat to qualify
Czech Republic
World ranking: Two
Ireland's record: P5 W2 D0 L3 F7 A10
Recent qualifying: Beat the Netherlands into second place to qualify comfortably for Euro 2004 as winners of a group that also included Austria. The Dutch got their own back in the campaign just ended, beating the Czechs home and away, while Karel Bruckner's team also lost in Romania. They still, however, finished second and went on to beat Norway 1-0 twice in the play-offs to qualify for Germany.
Recent tournaments: Went to Portugal in the summer of 2004 as one of the pre-tournament favourites and looked set for the final until they lost a game they had dominated to Greece after conceding a solitary goal from a corner late on.
Prospects: Bruckner is a very capable manager and has an enviable pool of talent at his disposal, as players like Petr Cech, Tomas Rosicky and Tomas Ujfalusi have demonstrated over the past few years. Pavel Nedved may return for the World Cup but is unlikely to feature in qualifying next time around. There is, however, a steady stream of players breaking through from the European Championship-winning under-21 side of 2002, and it will be very difficult to deny them top spot in this group.
Germany
World ranking: 17
Ireland's record: P16 W6 D3 L7 F22 A27
Recent qualifying: As hosts, the Germans didn't have to qualify for this summer's World Cup but their previous two campaigns were disappointing by their own standards. In 2004 they did qualify as winners from a group that included Scotland and Iceland but given the calibre of the opposition the four-point margin wasn't all that impressive. The time before that they finished second to England on goal difference, mainly as a result of a 5-1 home defeat at the hands of Sven-Goran Eriksson's side and their inability to beat Finland in Gelsenkirchen in their last game.
Recent tournaments: Surprised just about everybody by reaching the final of the 2002 World Cup without ever looking a good side but then they did benefit from the way the draw rather opened up in front of them. The extent of their decline was underlined in Portugal two years later, however, as they crashed out at the group stage after managing just two goals and as many points in their games against the Netherlands, the Czech Republic (who beat them) and Latvia.
Prospects: A good deal will depend on how they do this summer, with a good tournament potentially leaving Jürgen Klinsmann's young squad in a strong position to move forward together. An early exit, though, will prompt more changes and, as likely as not, the departure of the manager, which could leave them vulnerable. They do look to be improving, though, and the prospect of a European finals tournament without them is almost unthinkable.
Slovakia
World ranking: 44
Ireland's record: Have never played them
Recent qualifying: Did well in the group stage of qualifying for this summer's World Cup, finishing second to Portugal, narrowly ahead of Russia, but when it came to the play-offs they were outclassed by Spain in the opening leg and having lost 5-1 they could manage no more than a draw in the return game. In the race for a place at the Euro 2004 finals they finished well adrift of group winners England and second-placed Turkey after taking 10 points from their eight games.
Recent tournaments: Slovakia have yet to qualify for the finals of a major championship although many of their players played in tournament finals as part of Czechoslovakian sides. Indeed, the manager, Dusan Galis, was one of the many Slovaks in the squad that won this competition back in 1976.
Prospects: With a mix of older players earning their living in leading leagues across the Continent and younger talents coming to prominence at clubs like Artmedia Bratislava, the side who eliminated Celtic from the Champions League this season, the Slovaks have made considerable progress in recent years. They suffered just one defeat (away to Portugal) last time around but, like Ireland, find it hard to win big games.
Wales
World ranking: 72
Ireland's record: P9 W3 D1 L5 F10 A11
Recent qualifying: Wales made a bright start to their 2004 Euro campaign, beating Italy and harbouring serious hopes of qualification until towards the end of the fixture list, when two defeats and one draw in their last three games consigned them to second place. They subsequently lost 1-0 over two legs to Russia in the play-offs. Their attempt to make it to Germany wasn't nearly such a close-run thing, John Toshack's side finishing fifth of six with just eight points from 10 games. The team lost home and away to England, Poland and Austria and their best result was a 3-2 win in Belfast.
Recent tournaments: The Welsh haven't featured at a major finals since their one and only World Cup in 1958, when they qualified in a somewhat bizarre fashion. Already eliminated, they were handed a play-off against Israel, who were about to qualify without playing a game because of the refusal of other countries to play them. Fifa were determined this shouldn't happen and the Welsh were drawn out of a hat to provide the opposition.
Prospects: Toshack yesterday talked up his team's chances of qualifying for the next European championships but without any great conviction. The side are overly reliant on their best player, Ryan Giggs, and while several experienced figures have departed since the resignation of Mark Hughes, there has been little evidence that Toshack has replacements available to him of the required quality.
Cyprus
World ranking: 97
Ireland's record: P6 W6 D0 L0 F21 A2
Recent qualifying: Aside from the four points the Cypriots took from their two games against the Faroe Islands last time out they had precious little to shout about. They did go close to causing an upset against Ireland but, despite producing their best performance in many years and dominating for long periods, they couldn't quite cancel out the early goal they had conceded and so they lost 1-0. In the European Championships they fared somewhat better, winning two and drawing two of their eight games to finish one point behind Israel and seven ahead of Malta. The Israelis, though, were not allowed to play at home during that campaign.
Recent tournaments: They have never even come close to qualifying for a major finals, something even their coach didn't seem to think yesterday was going to change any time soon.
Prospects: With a fair few of the squad, most notably striking partnership Michal Konstantinou and Yiasoumi Yiasoumis, playing with decent clubs in Greece, the Cypriots should be no walkovers. They remain, however, very much a side who might help to shape the group by springing a surprise rather than seriously challenging for anything of consequence.
San Marino
World ranking: 156
Ireland's record: Have never played them
Recent qualifying: Along with Luxembourg, were the only teams in the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign who couldn't secure a point. This was not exactly new territory for a tiny state that has never threatened to do anything other than make up the numbers at this level. Their worst result last time around came in Brussels where they lost 8-0, while their best was probably against Bosnia Herzegovina, who they at least scored against even if they did eventually lose 3-1. In the previous campaign they couldn't find the net at all and conceded 30 times in a group that also included Sweden, Latvia, Poland and Hungary.
Recent tournaments: Eh, you must be kidding.
Prospects: Not great. They have played 34 games in this competition since entering the ranks of international football and lost them all, scoring four times along the way and conceding 143 goals. Any improvement against any of their opponents next time out would be a huge shock. Given the population is just 27,000 they field a team made up almost entirely of amateurs.
