America 2026 with Paul Howard and Kevin Kilbane

Malachy Clerkin, Kevin Kilbane and Gavin Cummiskey are here to talk about the final round of games World Cup qualification matches.

In part one we look at last night in the Aviva and Ireland's campaign as a whole. are we in a better place now? And what is Seamus Coleman's future in the Ireland setup?

In part two we look at the playoff deciders, where there were plenty of surprising results including Bosnia and Herzegovina beating Italy on penalties.

Finally we look ahead to some of the tantalising and not-so-tantalising matchups in the World Cup.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ireland’s World Cup dream ended in heartbreaking fashion, giving up a 2-0 lead against the Czech Republic to ultimately lose on penalties. Paul Howard and Kevin Kilbane talk about the disappointment of failing to progress after a dominant first half performance, the penalty that gave the Czech Republic belief and how the rest of the match unfolded. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Relive the glory and the heartbreak of Ireland's previous attempts to reach a major tournament with someone who was there to experience the joy, fight some losing battles and witness that handball. Kevin Kilbane and Paul Howard look back at playoff games past:

Belgium, World Cup 1998
Turkey, Euro 2000
Iran, World Cup 2002
France, World Cup 2010
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paul Howard and Kevin Kilbane preview Ireland v Czech Republic:

Ireland’s squad
Handling the pressure of a playoff
How Ireland won back to back games against Portugal and Hungary
Match fitness and the impact of players not getting regular football
The Troy Parrott factor
The Czech team
Should we practice penalties?
Kelleher’s penalty-saving prowess

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Former Ireland international Kevin Kilbane and journalist Paul Howard are making America 2026, a new podcast about the World Cup from The Irish Times. America 2026 starts next week for Ireland's playoff game against Czech Republic. Follow now on your podcast app, and look out for us on YouTube. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.