Tough draw for Ireland

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To make matters more difficult for Giovanni Trapattoni's Irish side, France will also have the advantage of playing the second leg of the play-offs at home.

In the other play-offs, Portugal will play Bosnia-Herzegovina, Greece will face Ukraine and Russia take on Slovenia.

Trapattoni had criticised FIFA for seeding the play-offs - Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine and Slovenia were all unseeded meaning they could not play each other.

France, beaten finalists in the last World Cup, were viewed as the team to avoid along with Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Irish, who last played in the finals in 2002, had hoped for an easier fixture against Greece but in the draw in Zurich, Everton's South African midfielder Francois Pienaar drew them first out of the hat against the French.

Trapattoni at least can feel relieved that the Republic do not have to play Russia on the artificial pitch at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.

Former manager Gerard Houllier believes France have a "50-50 chance" of qualifying for South Africa following the draw. France are ninth on FIFA's world rankings but could only finish second behind Serbia in their qualifying group.

"Ireland are one of the toughest opponents for Les Bleus," said Houllier, who was in Zurich for the draw as a representative of France Football Federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes. "Beforehand I had a hunch that France would draw Ireland and I was right. They will be difficult. Nobody wanted to draw Ireland because they know they've finished their qualification group unbeaten."