Northern Ireland have been drawn to play Italy in the semi-finals of the World Cup play-offs, while Wales face Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Ireland take on the Czech Republic.
Should Wales and Northern Ireland both win, they will play each other for a place at the finals in North America next summer after the draw was made by FIFA on Thursday
Wales would be at home for the final, but with two home nations potentially facing each other, one of the teams from the British Isles definitely will not be there.
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Wales manager Craig Bellamy celebrates after their win over North Macedonia. Pic: Reuters
Northern Ireland’s Italian challenge
If the Republic of Ireland, who booked their spot in dramatic fashion thanks to a last-gasp victory over Hungary, get past the Czechs, they will take on either Denmark or North Macedonia.
Northern Ireland, who qualified through the Nations League, have the toughest task of the three – at least on paper – against the Azzurri, who have won the World Cup four times, but last qualified in 2014.
They have only beaten Italy once in 11 meetings – in 1958.
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Northern Ireland have appeared in world football’s biggest tournament three times, the last in 1986.
Wales, who ended their qualifying campaign with a thumping 7-1 victory over North Macedonia, will be trying to reach their second finals in a row and their third overall.
The Republic of Ireland’s players celebrate the winning goal against Hungary that put them into the play-offs. Pic: Reuters
The Republic’s footballers last qualified in 2002, their third appearance in the finals.
England and Scotland already through
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Ecstatic Scotland fans celebrate qualifying for the World Cup
England and Scotland have qualified for the tournament, the Scots for the first time since 1998.
They scored two late goals in a dramatic 4-2 win over Denmark in Glasgow on Tuesday to secure a place.
England reached the finals for the eighth consecutive time by winning all their qualifiers and without conceding a single goal.
If you are planning to go to the tournament, you may need deep pockets, as Sky News discovered tickets already being sold for eye-watering prices by the platform Vivid Seats.
The play-off semi-finals will take place on 26 March and the finals five days later.
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In the other semi-finals, Turkey take on Romania, Slovakia face Kosovo, Sweden meet Ukraine and Poland play Albania.
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Scotland players reflect on World Cup win
In all, 16 teams are bidding for one of the four remaining European places.
The draw was also made for the inter-confederation play-offs, from which the final two teams will come.
Jamaica, who missed out on automatic qualifying to Curacao, will take on New Caledonia, with the winner facing the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the final.
Bolivia and Suriname, meanwhile, will meet for the right to face Iraq.
The tournament runs from 11 June to 19 July and will be played at 11 sites in the US, three in Mexico and two in Canada.
A total of 48 countries will be involved and 104 games will be played overall.
This story originally appeared on Skynews
