Ireland are facing a date with England following the draw for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship group stages.
It sets up a meeting with England manager Lee Carsley who had been heavily linked to the Republic of Ireland senior job following Stephen Kenny's exit with Heimir Hallgrimsson ultimately taking over.
The former Republic of Ireland midfielder then took charge of England against Ireland in last year's Nations League, leading the Three Lions to two victories over the Boys in Green, including a humbling 5-0 scoreline at Wembley.
Jim Crawford’s side, who had been placed in Pot 2, were also pitted against host nation Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Andorra in Group D at Thursday’s draw in Nyon as they try to secure a first-ever Euro finals spot.
Speaking after the draw, Crawford said: "The work begins now. We know our opponents and me and my coaching staff will begin researching the opposition and plotting our way forward in this group.
"The stand out fixture is England. They are a quality opposition and it will be an excellent occasion to be involved in. They’ll be a good team, we played their Under-20s team last summer and we know what talents they possess.
"For the rest of the group, if you look at the way football is going now in Europe, teams from Pot 4, 5 and 6 are getting a lot more investment in their football infrastructure. They’re getting better and stronger and you’ve only to see how Andorra put it up to Portugal in their last qualifier, Kazakhstan beat Scotland and Moldova drew with Sweden, there will be no easy games going into these qualifiers."
Ireland and England last met at this level competitively in 2008 with England winning their Euro qualifier 3-0 in Southampton, James Milner with a brace and Theo Walcott rounding off the scoring.
Ireland have never faced Slovakia, Kazakhstan or Moldova at this age grade although they did pick up a pair of victories against Andorra in 2015, winning 1-0 at home thanks to a Dylan Connolly goal and 2-0 on the road with Tommie Hoban and Josh Cullen on target.
Northern Ireland were placed in Group F and will face Germany, Georgia, Greece, Latvia and Malta.
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