Opponents lying in wait for N Ireland and the Republic

switzerland

Switzerland won all nine of their World Cup qualifiers before running into Portugal in their final game, when the European champions’ 2-0 victory saw them take top spot in Group B.

You can bet the unseeded teams are grateful the possibility of facing Cristiano Ronaldo and company has been taken off the table, and the Republic did beat the Swiss in a friendly in March last year.

italy

The Azzurri are only in this section because they drew Spain in Group G.

The four-time World Cup winners were beaten by the Republic at Euro 2016, though it was an Italian team featuring eight changes as their qualification for the knockout stages had already been confirmed. With Portugal out of the equation, they are the biggest name in this draw.

croatia

Croatia were in danger of becoming the one runner-up that missed out on the play-offs before beating Ukraine in their final group game.

Croatia had a tough group that also featured Iceland and Turkey.

They were impressive in winning 3-0 against the Northern Irish in Belfast last November, and they did so without the likes of Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic and Ivan Rakitic.

denmark

The Euro 1992 winners may be the team all the unseeded sides are hopeful of being drawn against, yet by the time they next play it will be over a year since they last tasted defeat, helping them to move up to 19th in the Fifa world rankings.

During that time they have beaten Poland 4-0 and drawn with world champions Germany.

The Danes have only reached one World Cup finals since 2002