Czechia vs. Republic of Ireland UEFA World Cup qualifier: Will Troy Parrott's heroics continue in Prague?

The Ireland striker put his team on his back against Portugal and Hungary to make the playoffs. Can he keep it up?

By James Benge Mar 26, 2026 at 7:33 am ET • 2 min read

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Is four days enough to change the trajectory of a team in a lasting fashion? Does one player catching fire at just the right moment bring about a meaningful shift in the ceiling of one nation's football programme? We might never get these sorts of questions answered with absolute certainty, but how the Republic of Ireland fare in the coming days might give us at least a hint of a sense.

On the morning of November 13, no one, not even the most blindly optimistic of Irish football fans, would have believed that Heimir Hallgrimsson's side might find themselves where they are now, two games from the World Cup. It seemed more likely that Hallgrimsson was two games away from being out of work. To simply finish second in their qualifying group Ireland, who had split the points with an Armenia side outside the top 100 nations in the FIFA rankings, were going to have to beat Portugal in Dublin and then win in Hungary.

They didn't need a better coach, an upgraded defense or a new midfield playmaker. They needed a miracle worker. Enter Troy Parrott. Two goals at the Aviva Stadium downed Portugal, who saw Cristiano Ronaldo sent off. Three days later, he went one better, a hat trick struck in the 96th minute, earning Ireland a 3-2 win in Budapest and with it a playoff semifinal against Czechia. Cue bedlam.

IRELAND FIND THE WINNER IN STOPPAGE TIME 🇮🇪 TROY PARROTT KEEPS THEIR FIFA WORLD CUP HOPES ALIVE AND SENDS THEM TO THE QUALIFYING PLAYOFFS 😱 pic.twitter.com/tpviU9EjwW
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 16, 2025

What was all the more remarkable was that Ireland were pretty good value for the results they got. They might have been outpossessed and outshot by Portugal, 27 to 14 on the latter count, but they had got themselves a two-goal lead before the break. Even at the final whistle, they led the expected goals tally 2.02 to 1.60. Against Hungary, they played different circumstances no less impressively, chasing the game from the 37th minute but only becoming cavalier when the moment called for big, booming launches from Caiomhin Kelleher.

That Ireland team might just fancy its chances against Czechia, who didn't particularly set Europe alight in finishing second behind Croatia in Group L of the European qualifiers. Playing at home to a side below them in the world rankings, the pressure will be on the Czechs to win out and set up a final against either Denmark or North Macedonia. That expectation is something that the visiting Irish intend to exploit.

"There is always a possibility of the occasion getting to people," Brentford defender Nathan Collins said. "That's for us to control; to control the noise in the stadium and how Czechia try to motivate their team. There could be some dark arts in football to calm them down, potentially.

"Every stadium we've played in, we've always heard the Ireland fans. It can work both ways. If we can encourage them, there is a massive chance they can be louder than the home team."

Unite that support with a performance on par with what they delivered against Portugal and Hungary, and there is every chance that the Republic of Ireland could be bound for the U.S.A. again, 32 years after they won hearts and minds under Jack Charlton. The question, of course, is whether what we saw in November was a mirage, an unrepeatable moment where everything just clicked, or a sign of this team emerging as one worthy of a World Cup berth. We might soon find out.