PRAGUE — Republic of Ireland defender John Egan said his team must carry momentum from their November away win over Hungary into Thursday's World Cup play-off semi-final against the Czech Republic. The match will take place at the 19,370-capacity Fortuna Arena in Prague at 19:45 GMT.

Troy Parrott scored a late winning goal against Hungary in Budapest in November, keeping alive the Republic of Ireland's hopes of qualifying for the World Cup in North America this summer. The victory sealed second place in Group F for the Republic of Ireland. "We knew we needed to win but had a lot of belief going there," Egan said about the Hungary match.

The team's qualification campaign had started poorly, with the Republic of Ireland having just one point from nine matches midway through after Adam Idah scored a late equalizer in a draw against Hungary in Dublin. The squad also suffered a defeat away to Armenia in September.

The Republic of Ireland lost 1-0 to Portugal in a match where Ruben Neves scored the only goal in stoppage time. Following the Portugal match, the Republic of Ireland defeated Armenia in their return fixture and beat Portugal at home.

When the Republic of Ireland went 2-1 down against Hungary in November, the team maintained their belief. "When we went 2-1 down, we still had a feeling we could get the win and for Troy to do what he did felt like you were in a movie," he said.

Over 6,000 fans applied for the Republic of Ireland's allocation of 1,024 tickets for the semi-final, meaning Republic of Ireland supporters will be outnumbered by other spectators in the stadium. "We have to keep riding off the back of that wave and keep the confidence and positivity going," he said about the upcoming match.

If they win the semi-final, the Republic of Ireland may play a home final play-off match against either Denmark or North Macedonia next Tuesday.