TONIGHT’S OPPONENTS

This will be the eighth international meeting between the two sides, with the history dating back to a European Championship qualifier in 1962. Ireland have won five of the previous ties, with the other two ending in draws, including a scoreless affair at Lansdowne Road under Mick McCarthy where Roy Keane was famously fielded as part of a three-man defence. All of the clashes have been competitive aside from the 1986 meeting in a friendly tournament that is often referenced as a trigger for success under Jack Charlton Ireland lifted that generation's Carling Nations Cup courtesy of wins in Reykjavik against the hosts and Czechoslovakia.

The last meeting was in 1997, the return game in that World Cup qualifying campaign under Mick McCarthy. Kevin Kilbane made his Ireland debut but was hooked at half-time as Ireland came from behind to grind out a 4-2 victory. Oddly enough, the Ireland team wore black armbands in that game to honour Princess Diana who had died a week previously.

Iceland are ranked 23rd in the world so there could be some currency in beating them tonight given that FIFA's list is influenced by the position of opposing sides in the chart. That could become more important later in the year if Ireland are in the shake-up for a playoff place. Iceland could be in the picture too as they sit second in Group I – three points behind Croatia and two ahead of Ukraine and Turkey in a congested group.