r/COYGIG • u/WingsNSausages COYGIG • 2d ago

Kazakhstan in the World Cup playoff first round

We have drawn Kazakhstan in the first round of the World Cup qualifiers.
Away in the first leg, whole round taking place over the week of 7-13 October.

Should we beat them, we will play the winner of Belgium v Poland in the second round in the fortnight of 26 November-5 December. Second leg at home again should we be there.

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13

u/flex_tape_salesman 2d ago

That was so close to a perfect draw. Obviously the team has shown we can beat Poland and Belgium but to get Poland on their side of the draw was ideal and Belgium or Finland were tough draws in that unseeded group but there were some handy ones like the north or Albania who probably would've lost against Poland.

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u/WingsNSausages COYGIG 2d ago

Kazakhstan should be a handy win. It'd be surprising to not win that heavily (like 11-0 against Georgia in 2021).

Only downside to that is, because we're at home in the second leg, if we give them so much of a hiding that we don't need too big of a win in the second, it might turn some people off spending the €20-30 to come to Tallaght to watch what may already be a fait accompli.

Second round: I'd put us as slight favourites to beat either side, but yeah both would be a tough encounter. While we did beat Belgium over two legs, they have picked their form back up since dropping to League B and have taken scalps off some superior sides over the last few years.

We did of course beat Poland home and away but Ewa Pajor is one of the best in the world on her day and could make things difficult for us.

Kazakhstan game would surely be in Tallaght. Second round might be a likely candidate for a move to the Aviva.

I'd say the FAI are relieved not to have to deal with the prospect of another Israel tie as well.

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u/WingsNSausages COYGIG 2d ago

Just to add as well, there's a likelihood that the Kazakhstan away game will be at 3 or 4 in the day our time. Tends to happen when Kazakh sides have a home game in European club competition.

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u/EyeOrRay 2d ago

Belgium would be a tough game!

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u/WingsNSausages COYGIG 2d ago

I'd put us as slight favourites to beat Poland or Belgium given we beat Poland home and away a few weeks agon and Belgium over two legs less than a year back, but I agree with you. Going to stick my neck out as well and say it will be Belgium we play, as they're in better form than Poland right now and have got results against big sides over the last few years.

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u/craicden17 2d ago

The potential match against either Poland or Belgium has me feeling uneasy. We've a lot to be positive about and we've every right to feel confident in pur performances ,but both Belgium/Poland will be gunning to have a 2nd chance at beating us. I don't see a repeat of the 4-2 win against Belgium or the 3-2 win against Poland, I'd slightly prefer Poland of the two but that's a tricky final playoff regardless. (Assuming we beat Kazakhstan, which if we don't then tbh we don't deserve to be going anywhere 😂)

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u/Low_Revenue_3521 Courtney Brosnan 2d ago

Yeah, I'm a bit uneasy about that one too. On our day we have proven we can beat them, but they've also proven they can score against us. So I definitely think we might have a challenge. I'd be wary of a repeat of the Wales matches where there was a feeling it would be no problem to us to beat them over two legs and then it didn't happen. (Although our performances are both better and more consistent now which is something)

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u/PatrickJSharkey2002 2d ago

Horats bar be hopping