THERE are a number of reasons to believe that the Republic of Ireland should beat Estonia over two legs but the team’s record at this stage of major tournaments is certainly not one of them. Ireland have made the play-offs on six occasions and five of their opponents have ended up winning the plane tickets and free accommodation for the following summer.

If there is some small consolation to be drawn from the string of defeats it is that no good ever seems to come of it for the team that puts us out. None has ever made it past the quarter-finals of the tournament they qualified for and a couple have come really badly unstuck. Then again, Mick McCarthy and co didn’t exactly have the time of their lives in Japan and South Korea in 2002!

World Cup 1966

Spain 1 Republic of Ireland 0

(Stade Colombes, Paris, 1965)

EOIN Hand tells the story of bringing an Irish team to London to discover that they had, to the annoyance of the players, been put into terrible accommodation. Might there be, he inquired of the hosts, any chance of trading up on the hotel front in return for the FAI taking a smaller cut of the gate. But the team, he was informed, had actually been hurriedly switched to inferior accommodation after the association had sought to explore ways in which they might get a bigger cut. It was somewhat similar here with the Spanish dangling the carrot of more cash if the game was played in Paris rather than London as had been suggested. The Irish had won a group game in Dublin against the same opponents but lost quite badly in Seville so they could have done with keeping it as close to home as possible. Shay Brennan, Noel Cantwell, Pat and Tony Dunne, all then of Manchester United, started for Ireland but Jose Ufarte’s solitary goal for the Spanish sent them through to the World Cup where defeats by Argentina and West Germany promptly sent them home again.

Euro 1996

Republic of Ireland 0 Netherlands 2

(Anfield, Liverpool 1995)

THE Irish may have been without some of the stars of ’88 and ’90 but they still started this campaign with a fair amount of optimism about their chances of qualification for a tournament that was due to be held in England. Things started to come off the rails in Eschen, though, when the Irish failed to break Liechtenstein down and Jack Charlton’s side even came close to conceding a goal that would have cost them the draw late on. Defeats home and away by Austria left them needing to win in Lisbon which was overrun by travelling supporters for the game.

The Portuguese, though, romped home in the rain and Ireland were consigned to a play-off at Anfield where, without the likes of Roy Keane, Steve Staunton or Niall Quinn, they were again comprehensively outplayed, this time by a Dutch side that included Dennis Bergkamp, Marc Overmars, Edwin van der Sar and Edgar Davids. Still, a nation consoled itself, with the belief the Dutch were good enough to go on and actually win the title in England. But they were thumped by the hosts and drew with Scotland before finally being put out of their misery on penalties by the French in the quarters.

World Cup 1998

Republic of Ireland 1 Belgium 1

(Lansdowne Road, 1997)

Belgium 2 Republic of Ireland 1

(Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels 1997)

MICK McCarthy knew he had his work cut out if he was going to halt the side’s decline and get them back to a major championship and this certainly wasn’t the best of Ireland’s campaigns. Getting Belgium in the play-offs still appeared to give the side a decent shot at qualification which they set about achieving impressively enough courtesy of a Denis Irwin free.

The wind was taken from their sails, however, by Luc Nilis’ away goal and though they came from behind in Brussels a few days later when Ray Houghton cancelled out Luis Oliveira’s opener for the hosts they struggled to impose themselves on the game and finally conceded again from a throw-in to Belgium that should have gone the other way.

Their rather colourful coach, Georges Leekens, must have taken his side off to France the following summer with high hopes and they did emerge from the tournament unbeaten but the dream was still short-lived as draws against the Dutch, Mexicans and South Koreans weren’t enough to get them through.

Euro 2000

Republic of Ireland 1 Turkey 1

(Lansdowne Road, 1999)

Turkey 0 Republic of Ireland 0

(Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Bursa 1999)

BY this stage McCarthy must really have been tempted to get back out there and show his players just how it was supposed to be done for late goals conceded in Croatia and, more pointedly, Skopje cost the team automatic qualification. Once again, the play-off draw could have been worse and Ireland’s record against the Turks certainly generated a bit of confidence but they were an improving side as it turned out and so it was misplaced.

The Irish led the home leg for fully five minutes before Lee Carsley conceded a penalty with a clumsy handball and Tayfur Havatcu stepped up to bag the visitors an away goal. And that proved enough to decide things with the Irish chasing things doggedly in Bursa for 90 minutes but ultimately having few complaints really when they went out.

World Cup 2002

Republic of Ireland 2 Iran 0

(Lansdowne Road, 2001)

Iran 1 Republic of Ireland 0

(Azadi Stadium, Tehran, 2001)

THERE was a suspicion before the draw for the play-offs this time that Ireland would struggle against anyone bar Iran who had beaten UAE in a previous play-off to earn the right to take on a European side for a trip to Japan and South Korea. Goals from Ian Harte and Robbie Keane in the first leg appeared to put the Irish firmly on course particularly when McCarthy’s side survived some pretty close shaves late on at Lansdowne Road to keep a first clean sheet in a play-off home leg.

The population of Tehran seemed undeterred, however, with what seemed like half of it turning out for the second leg. Yahya Golmohammadi’s injury time effort wasn’t enough to save his side or any of the windows in what seemed like the thousands of cars parked on the road leading away from the stadium.

World Cup 2010

Republic of Ireland 0 France 1

(Croke Park, 2009)

France 1 Republic of Ireland 1

(Stade de France, Saint-Denis, 2009)

THE French looked a pretty daunting prospect when they came out of the hat for the play-off Ireland had this time earned by finishing second in their qualification group to Italy. When Raymond Domenech’s side won at Croke Park thanks to Nicolas Anelka’s deflected shot, the Irish needed to become the first side anywhere to bounce back from losing the first leg of a World Cup play-off to progress and, miraculously, they actually almost did it. Robbie Keane was, once again, the scorer in Paris where he, Damien Duff or John O’Shea might have wrapped things up for the visitors but instead William Gallas grabbed a winner in, as we know, controversial circumstances.

The French headed off to South Africa but after drawing with Uruguay in the opening game and losing to Mexico and the hosts were sent packing early.

– Emmet Malone