Excitement building for thousands of Irish fans in Prague ahead of World Cup play-off
Thousands of Irish soccer fans are descending on the Czech capital, ahead of tonight's World Cup play-off semi-final.
Ireland are looking to qualify for the finals for the first time in 24 years.
While some fans made the journey straight to Prague from Ireland, others have travelled across Europe, using every mode of transport they can.
The majority are there without a ticket, with Ireland only receiving an allocation of 1,024 tickets in the 19,370-capacity Fortuna Arena.
Ireland Fans Cian Ryan and Séamus Burns. Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne
Ahead of the game, there is a sense of optimism and excitement, as fans dare to dream of the World Cup this summer.
As one fan said: "We're feeling confident, but look, it is going to be a tough game.
This fan made his way from Berlin to Prague by train and says supporters are travelling from all over to be in the city.
"I know people that are coming from Budapest, some of my friends flew through Heathrow and did a stopover as well, it is a bit of an invasion from all angles."
Speaking to the Irish Times, fans
Gavin Kelleher and James Doyle spent the night trying to sleep in Manchester Airport after a day of travel chaos.
“We just got here now, 15 hours later than expected,” Kelleher said on Wednesday morning. “We had a bit of a nightmare to be fair, originally we were supposed to go from Cork to Manchester and get a connecting flight to Prague.”
The flight out of Cork was cancelled, so the two 23-year-olds were redirected to Dublin, but by the time they caught a flight to Manchester, their connecting flight to Prague had left without them.
“We had to sleep in the airport for eight hours in Manchester … pay for new flights, another €300,” Kelleher said. “We went into an [airport] lounge, had a couple of bottles and breakfast, fuelled up. It was tough, but we’re here now, that’s the important thing.”
Having not qualified for the World Cup since 2002, the World Cup has skipped not only a generation of players, but also fans, as Ireland hope to make more special memories.
