Lawrenson's Ireland view

BBC Sport's Mark Lawrenson gives his reaction to Ireland's play-off aggregate victory over Iran.

It wasn't a great game by any stretch of the imagination, and the fact that Iran scored didn't really matter in the end.

It's just great that Ireland are going to Korea and Japan. They qualified for the World Cup on the back of two great results.

All the hard work was done in Dublin when they won 2-0 in first leg.

That was the key, and really Ireland were quite comfortable in Iran. It was a job well done.

Harte scored Ireland's first goal in Dublin

Iran didn't show as much attacking flair as we anticipated, but I think that's a credit to the way Ireland played.

They stopped Iran from playing, which is what Ireland are great at.

But it's not just about the results against Iran. They've worked hard for this over the last 18 months.

They had a superb unbeaten record before this game, going 17 games without defeat.

That's some feat when you consider they were in a qualifying group with Holland and Portugal, and they didn't lose a game.

They've made it because of the work ethic of the players - it's possibly their greatest strength.

As for their chances in Korea and Japan? I think they'll do all right. Obviously, a lot will depend on the draw.

I think they can do better than they did at Italia '90, because there are more teams in the competition.

I'm not saying that the quality isn't there - but it's spread out more across the groups. They could end up in a weaker group, and qualify second behind a strong team.

Also, this result means that Ireland will be seeded in the qualifying draw for the 2004 European Championships in Portugal.

For Mick McCarthy it's a great result - he's been outstanding.

McCarthy has guided Ireland to the finals

If fact, I think he has probably done a better job than Jack Charlton - and that's not being disparaging to Jack.

If you compare the players that the two managers had to work with, Jack Charlton had quite a few class players.

David O'Leary was still playing, as were McGrath, Staunton, Townsend, Houghton, Aldridge, and Quinn.

If you look at Ireland now, they only really have one truly world-class player - Roy Keane.

And to think that there was talk of McCarthy being sacked if Ireland lost their penultimate qualifying game against Holland.

It's also a great result for the Irish Football Association. What price can you place on being in the World Cup Finals? It would probably be at least £5m.

And it's not just about the money either. I think when Charlton's Ireland reached the quarter-finals at Italia 90, thousands of kids starting playing football in Ireland.

Maybe this will have the same effect.