FAI to reward loyal Ireland fans for World Cup play-off semi-final in Prague

The Czech Republic football association has allocated just 1,024 tickets to the FAI for the World Cup play-off semi-final at the Fortuna Arena in Prague on March 26th.

Slavia Prague’s home ground has a capacity of 19,370.

It has been confirmed that applications for tickets will open at the end of next week. However, priority will be given to supporters who travelled to the 10 previously undersubscribed Ireland away matches, including friendlies, such as the trip to Luxembourg last June.

The 3,000 Ireland fans inside the Puskás Arena in Budapest for the 3-2 defeat of Hungary last November have a chance of getting a ticket as that fixture was also undersubscribed. The same goes for those who attended matches since 2024 in Yerevan, Plovdiv, London, Athens and Helsinki.

Gary Spain, the Ireland men’s team liaison officer for supporters, said applications for the Prague fixture “will open at the end of next week”. He added: “Pricing, allocation and other details to follow when I have them.”

If Ireland beat the Czechs, they will face either Denmark or North Macedonia on March 31st at the Aviva Stadium for a place at this summer’s World Cup in North America.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s team are provisionally drawn in World Cup Group A, where they would face South Korea on June 11th in Guadalajara, South Africa in Atlanta on June 18th and Mexico at the Azteca stadium in Mexico City on June 24th.

Hallgrímsson, having travelled to Alkmaar to witness Troy Parrott’s hat-trick against Ajax on Wednesday, will be at St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday afternoon as Southampton’s Irish duo Finn Azaz and Ryan Manning welcome John Egan and Hull City in the EFL Championship.

New Czech Republic manager Miroslav Koubek has a busy couple of months ahead of him until the play-off semi-final in Prague. The 74-year-old will soon embark on a tour of three Czech clubs’ warm-weather training camps in Spain. The three clubs are Viktoria Plzen, Sparta and Slavia Prague

“The Irish are a team with heart; they play simple and straightforward football,” said Koubek this week. “They are very aggressive and intense.”

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