The 2002 FIFA World Cup UEFA–AFC qualification play-off was a two-legged home-and-away tie between a group runner-up of the European qualifying tournament, the Republic of Ireland, and the winners of the AFC play-off, Iran.

The Irish side won the series 2–1 on aggregate, therefore qualifying to the World Cup.

The Republic of Ireland qualified to the 2002 FIFA World Cup and were drawn into Group E with Germany, Cameroon and Saudi Arabia.

They drew with Cameroon and Germany with a score of 1–1 and in the final match, they won 3–0 against Saudi Arabia.

This qualified them to the Round of 16 but they were eliminated by Spain on penalties (2–3) after the match ended in a 1–1 draw.