The draw for the 2018 World Cup finals takes place in Moscow on Friday.

Seldom will a ridiculous 23-0 result in the Oceania Cup mean so much to those 17,000 kilometres away but Australia’s crushing of Papua New Guinea proved the outcome that confirmed the Irish women’s team will go to the 2018 World Cup.

Buffon is hoping to add plenty more caps to his collection of 154.

Packie Bonner believes that, if Martin O’Neill wants it, he should be given a shot at leading Ireland to the 2018 World Cup — even if his team, as many are now predicting, fails to make it to the Euro finals in France next year.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has insisted that the 2018 World Cup will go ahead in his country, despite the launch of an investigation into alleged corruption during the bidding process.