The Republic of Ireland will play Czech Republic in the World Cup play-off semi-final in March.
We take a look at what we know of the opposition.
Current world ranking?
43. There is not a lot of difference from Hungary but it's certainly a case where Ireland are underdogs. They are 16 places above the Boys in Green.
Manager:
Jaroslav Kosti. Let’s start off with some encouragement. Ivan Hasek was manager at the start of the campaign but lost his job after a shock 2-1 defeat to Faroe Islands. Kosti in interim charge, the former Slavia Prague boss is looking for the permanent gig, but there is no guarantee he could be in charge for the play-off.
Who are their star players?
They have a few. The captain Tomas Soucek has been a big player for West Ham for many years.
Bayer Leverkusnen striker Patrik Schick is also formidable up front. He has 24 international goals already.
Goalekeepr Matej Kovar has started in some matches and has come up against Troy Parrott. He is on loan from Leverkusen at PSV. The Czechs has struggled to settle on a starting stopper for the senior side though so we can't be sure who will start.
They could have one former League of Ireland player in the squad with ex-St Patrick's Athletic goalkeeper Vítezslav Jaros capped last year.
What are they thinking:
Slavia Prague’s Lukas Provod is a regular in the squad. He said of the draw: "Ireland is a very unpleasant and tenacious opponent, which we had the opportunity to see in their last qualifying match in Hungary.
"I believe that our great advantage will be the home environment, we will manage the match and thus get closer to our common and dream goal, which is to advance to the World Cup."
How did they get there?
Well it wasn’t without incident as you can tell. They were expected to finish in the top two of a group consisting of Croatia, Montenegro, the Faroes and Gibraltar.
They did secure a draw with Croatia but that loss against Brian Kerr’s former side certainly ended their hopes of being an automatic qualifier.
It’s fair to say there has been some discontent.
Soucek was stripped of his captaincy and the squad were punished for ignoring their fans after their final World qualifier with Gibraltar by having bonuses withdrawn.
The players didn’t clap the fans after the 6-0 victory and the association took action.
"The fans have a full right to express their disagreement with the unsatisfactory performance in the recent games," the Czech FA said in a statement.
"The reaction of the players should have been quite the contrary. They should have thanked the active fans."
Right then.
Have they the pedigree for reaching the World Cup?
They haven’t qualified since 2006. European Championships have proven relatively easy for the country, reaching eight on the spin.
But the World Cup has been much more elusive.
That occasion two decades ago was their only appearance, having first entered qualification in 1996.
Will it be hostile?
Not based on numbers. Both of their regular venues have a capacity of less than 20,000. The Letna Stadium is most likely choice at 18,000.
So it’s a far cry from Hungary. There is no doubt it will be rampant support for the home side come March but Ireland can’t say it’s more difficult than before in terms of atmosphere.
As a result of the small stadium, visiting fans can expect a limited amount of tickets. Even regular away match attendees will be sweating with between 800 and 1,500 tickets expected. It might be on the lower side of that number.
When did we last play them?
Remember Simon Cox. He scored in a 1-1 draw in the Aviva Stadium 12 years ago.
In total we have played them eight times, with the Boys in Green winning twice.
Tellingly, Czech Republic have won all thee home games.
Who was their best ever player?
That would be Pavel Nedved.
The former Juventus midfielder works for their association now.
He said of the pairing: "Of course we were nervous before the draw. We got Ireland, who are probably in their best form at the moment. They beat Portugal, they advanced after winning in Hungary and it is always difficult in these types of play-off matches."
When is the game?
Details have been confirmed. The clash with Czech Republic will be on Thursday, 26 March at 7.45pm Irish time, with the final against Denmark or North Macedonia the following Tuesday for the winners of each tie, also with a 7.45pm kick-off.
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