Republic of Ireland defender Dara O'Shea said the squad have had "closure" from their penalty shootout defeat by the Czech Republic on Thursday which ended their World Cup dream. Heimir Hallgrimsson's side squandered a two-goal lead at the Fortuna Arena and succumbed to a 4-3 shootout loss against the Czechs, who progress to a play-off final against Denmark for a place at the World Cup. The Irish must now regroup for their dead rubber friendly against North Macedonia at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday, but O'Shea has urged his side to move on from their Prague pain and start looking to build towards Euro 2028. "We've had closure, now we have to look forward to the next game, we can't keep dwelling on that because nothing can change. "We're building towards Euro 2028 now and it's important that we keep going in the right direction I feel like we have been and keep pushing on."

Source: BBC March 30, 2026 18:39 UTC