Ireland has a prime opportunity to take over second place in Group C of the World Cup 2014 qualifiers when it takes on Faroe Islands Friday.
The top team in the group earns an automatic spot in the World Cup finals next summer in Brazil. The second place team gets a chance to compete in a playoff against another runner-up for a chance to play in Brazil. Germany has a stranglehold a top Group C with 16 points in six matches. However, there are currently three teams with eight points tied for second place in the group: Austria, Republic of Ireland, and Sweden. Austria and Ireland have contested five games already while Sweden has only played in four. The match against Faroe Islands on Friday is crucial for Ireland because Austria and Sweden will be battling one another and one or both of the teams could wind up losing points. If Austria and Sweden tie and Ireland wins, then they would have sole possession for second place. If one of the other two sides won and Ireland picked up a victory, then the race could potentially dwindle to just two contestants; if Sweden manages to win then Austria would fall behind by a larger margin than if the opposite result took place because of Sweden's game in hand.
Ireland won its first match against Kazakhstan 2-1 but lost 6-1 against Germany. The team bounced back with a 4-1 win over Faroe Islands and two draws against Sweden and Austria.
Faroe Islands sits at the bottom of the group with zero points in four games. The Faroe Islands can earn a maximum of 18 points but must win every single match in order to earn them.
Prediction: Ireland won its first game on the road against Faroe Islands by the score of 4-1; look for the team to put up a 6-0 win on home field.
Start Time: 2:45 PM EST
TV: Skysports 1 Ireland
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