All eyes on England as Irish play-off fate is clarified

The Republic of Ireland will be hoping neighbours England can do them a huge favour this afternoon when they play Austria at Stadion Wiener Neustadt in Vienna.

Ireland sealed a place in the World Cup play-offs on Thursday night with a 1-0 win against Finland.

The complex format means Vera Pauw's team do not yet know if they will enter round 1 or round 2 of October's play-offs, but things will become clearer by this evening.

If England do defeat the Austrians (4.30pm kick-off), Ireland will know a victory against Slovakia on Tuesday will send them straight to round 2.

That's because the three best runners-up from the nine qualifying groups get byes to round 2, with the other six teams having to contest three round 1 matches on 6 October.

The two winners of the round 2 matches with the highest ranking (based on results in the qualifying group stage and the round 2 games) progress to the World Cup finals.

The remaining play-off winner will go to the inter-confederation play-offs from 17 to 23 February in New Zealand. They they will be placed in a three-team group with two of the following: Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Cameroon, Senegal, Haiti, Panama, Chile, Papa New Guinea.

Winning your inter-confederation play-off group earns you a place in the World Cup.

There was elation at Tallaght Stadium after Lily Agg's header ensure Ireland took the three points against the Finns and guaranteed second place in Group A, but Pauw warned afterwards: "We're not there. We need to win in Slovakia to get a chance to skip the first round. So we will prepare as seriously as we will need to for that."