EXTRA TIME

Thursday Tears

The summer of 2026 was meant to belong to all of them. Mexico, Canada, the United States — a World Cup sprawling across a continent, expanded to 48 teams, the biggest ever. Surely there was room. Surely, this time, there was room for all the five national teams from the British Isles. England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 had already qualified for the tournament via the group stage, and now, on the evening of Thursday, March 26, 2026, the three other nations from this small, rain-soaked corner of the world tried to do the same via the World Cup playoffs: Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland.

All three went into the play-off semifinals with hope and determination. All three of them came home with nothing.

It started, as the cruelest nights often do, with hope.
In Prague, the Republic of Ireland made the most electric of starts. Troy Parrott, the striker who had dragged this team to the playoffs almost single-handedly with a stunning hat-trick against Hungary, won and converted a penalty. Then an own goal by keeper Matej Kovar made it 2-0. Two up, away from home, against a team ranked above them. Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men were on the verge of something extraordinary.
But football is not kind. Patrik Schick pulled one back from the spot for the Czechs, and then, just as Ireland looked like they might hold on, Ladislav Krejčí equalised to send the match into extra time. The momentum had shifted like a tide, and there was no swimming against it.
In the penalty shootout, saves from Czech goalkeeper Mojmír Chytil denied Finn Azaz and Alan Browne, and Ireland were out — beaten 4-3 on penalties, their two-goal lead turned to dust. The players stood in the Prague night, some with hands on heads, some staring at the turf. Parrott, the hero who had conjured them here, could do nothing in the end to save them.

In Cardiff, Wales had endured their own rollercoaster.
Dan James scored a beauty to put them 1-0 up after 50 minutes, and for much of the second half that looked like enough. The Dragon was flying. The dream was alive. Craig Bellamy prowled the technical area, daring to believe.
Then Edin Dzeko — the veteran Bosnian striker, a man who has been scoring goals in big moments for what feels like forever — came up with a leveller late on from a corner. In the same minute, 3,000 miles away, Krejčí had equalised for the Czechs. Two nations, two hearts, punctured in the same breath of clock.
In the shootout, Harry Wilson and Mark Harris both converted. But Brennan Johnson and Neco Williams missed, and Bosnia-Herzegovina triumphed 4-2 to march into the playoff final. Welsh tears fell in the Cardiff rain.

And in Bergamo, Northern Ireland had faced the hardest task of all.
Italy were taking a big step towards reaching their first World Cup since 2014. The gap in resources, in pedigree, in ranking between the two sides was vast. Yet it was a cagey first 45 minutes, with the hosts far from their best — Northern Ireland, organised and resolute, refusing to be swept away.
It took until the 56th minute for Sandro Tonali to finally break the deadlock. Then, ten minutes from time, Tonali turned provider — an elaborate pass over the top found Moise Kean, who put it away off the post. 2-0. It was over. Northern Ireland were beaten, and Italy will go on to face Bosnia and Herzegovina in the playoff final.

So Thursday ended, and three footballing nations began the long journey home.
England are going to the World Cup. Scotland are going. But Wales, the Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland will spend the summer watching it on television — as close, and as impossibly far, as they have ever been.
The expanded tournament that was supposed to open the door wider had, in the cruelest fashion, slammed it shut all the same.

But the story didn’t end on Thursday night.

Because the day after is when football quietly rebuilds itself—in conversations, in memories, in small defiant acts of belief. There will be another big tournament to qualify for. The UEFA Euro 2028 will be played across four host nations: England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland. And the capital of NI, Belfast, will host the qualifying draw.

March 28, 2026 at 4:05 pm Leave a comment