The draw for the play-off games that will decide the final 4 European teams that will compete in next year’s World Cup was made a short while ago in Zurich.
The stand out tie sees Giovanni Trapattoni’s Irish side face France over two legs, with the second leg being in Paris. Whilst this is clearly a huge challenge for the Irish, France will also be very wary of a vastly improved side which came within a few minutes of beating World Champions Italy only a couple of weeks ago.
This seems to be the hardest of the four ties to predict, with Portugal, Ukraine, and Russia all likely to fancy their chances of joining the party in South Africa next year.
The ties will be played over two legs ( with the first leg on Nov 14, and the second leg on Nov 18 ), and the full draw is:
Republic of Ireland v France
Portugal v Bosnia-Herzegovina
Greece v Ukraine
Russia v Slovenia