Heimir Hallgrímsson looks ahead following conclusion of Nations League campaign: ‘I needed to see all these players going into the World Cup. The answers are not always how you want them to be but all answers are good because it moves you forward

Macdara Ferris reports from Wembley

While Lee Carsley was handing Ireland a 5-0 hammering before handing the English managerial baton to Thomas Tuchel, Heimir Hallgrímsson was contemplating the challenge ahead for his team in the World Cup qualifiers to come in 2025 after the heaviest ever defeat to England for the Boys in Green.

The Ireland boss was asked afterwards was it his worst night in football and his response was that it was “probably one of my worst second halves of football”.

His team had kept a clean sheet in the opening 45 minutes, with his novel deployment of skipper Nathan Collins in front of his back four, providing defensive stability and it is a tactic he said he might use again. However, it all unravelled early in the second half for Ireland with Liam Scales’ sending off and the concession of three quick fire England goals.

Reaction

“It’s difficult to be a coach when this happens,” Hallgrímsson admitted. “You don’t have time to react to anything. All of a sudden you’re 3-0 down, and one player down. Against a good team like England, it’s tough; Not only for the coaches but for the players on the pitch as well.”

He said his team needed to be cleverer to react to the situation on the pitch. “You need to be smart after conceding a shock like this, a goal and losing a player. You need to be smart to play the first minutes after and (stay) compact, not concede another one, and grow again into the match.”

Rhythm

He spoke about the positives of his team’s display in the first half, without overselling a 45 minute period when the Boys in Green only had 30% of the ball.

“In the first ten minutes we were a bit shaky but then we found our rhythm in our block. We controlled the way the game was played, even with the (low) amount of possession. We played really well out of possession and until the first goal.

“If we look back when we played them at home (losing 3-0) and this, I know this was a different game but we could have, and maybe should have, taken the lead in the game,” he said about the challenge on Evan Ferguson in the box that somehow didn't awake the VAR officials from the early Sunday evening slumber.

“It would have changed the whole lot if we’d taken the lead. But again it’s still embarrassing to lose 5-0.”

With Ireland confirmed as third seeds for next Autumn’s World Cup qualifiers, the Boys in Green will face similar stiff opposition in those matches.

The Ireland boss believes his team can build on what they showed in the first half and that now he has a much better handle on his players’ capability now going into 2025 compared to when taking over in the dugout.

“We showed how we can play against teams like England. We need to play teams like England away and we will need to defend for long spells in the games. And if we do that as well as we did in the first half, we have a chance against any team.

“(The campaign) has been a good time for me. I’ve seen them (the players) and it was necessary for me to give them a chance to show what they can do. 

“You always get answers. The answers are not always how you want them to be but all answers are good because it moves you forward to take decisions. I needed to see all these players going into the World Cup.”

Embarrassing

The post-match conversations with both Lee Carsley and also with the Ireland players were short. “I wished him all the best in his job,” said Hallgrímsson of his quick chat with Carsley who will return to his role managing England’s under-21 team. “I was a little embarrassed at the score line and I congratulated him for the good second half.

“It’s tough to say something to motivate players after. It’s probably better to say less than more. I urged them to look at this game again, look at the positives, look at the negatives and we go from there.”

Next stop is a two legged play-off in March to stay in League B and Ireland will learn their Nations League opponents this coming Friday when the draw is made in UEFA HQ in Nyon. Ireland will be drawn against one of Slovakia, Kosovo, Bulgaria or Armenia.

World Cup qualifying explainer

The results in this UEFA Nations League campaign mean that Ireland will be third seeds for FIFA World Cup qualification and this most likely will mean a playing in four-team qualifying group next year.

If so, those UEFA qualifiers will run across September, October and November in 2025. Avoiding a five-team group will mean they won’t have to play June qualifiers, a time when a large cohort of the Ireland squad are out of season by a month with their English Championship season ending in May.

The World Cup draw will take place in Zurich on 13 December. Teams will be drawn into a dozen qualification groups, with each group winner automatically qualifying for the FIFA 2026 World Cup in USA, Canada and Mexico.

The complicated play-off route (is there any other kind?) then involves 16 teams – the 12 runners-up from the qualifying group and the four best UEFA Nations League group winners who finish outside the top two in their World Cup qualification group.

Those 16 teams will be drawn into four paths with two rounds of single-match play-offs – a semi-final leading to a final. The semi-final play-offs will be seeded with the seeded teams hosting the semi-final but the home team for the final play-off will be assigned via a draw.

The four path winners will then progress to the World Cup.

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— extratime.com (@extratime.bsky.social) 12 November 2024 at 11:54