Manager Colin Bell says that every game will be “like a cup final” for the senior Irish women’s team as they bid to make it to their first ever major tournament, the 2021 European Championship finals in England.

The Republic of Ireland have had a dream start to their Women's Under-17 European Championships qualification campaign.

Ye Gods, it can’t be true but somehow it is. When Ireland take on Denmark in the World Cup play-off next month, it really will be 25 years (and a couple of weeks) since I was last in the Parken Stadium watching the two nations go head to head, writes Liam Mackey.

Gylfi Sigurdsson helped Iceland seal qualification for their first ever World Cup finals by scoring in an emotional 2-0 victory over Kosovo.

Iceland are on the brink of reaching their first ever World Cup after recording a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Group I rivals Turkey in Istanbul.

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique says he is ready to stand down from Spain duty if he is deemed a "problem" by national team coach Julen Lopetegui or the Spanish Football Federation as a result of his support for Catalan independence.

Alvaro Morata and substitute Iago Aspas each scored twice as Spain continued to cruise towards the World Cup finals with an 8-0 win over Group G whipping boys Liechtenstein in Vaduz.

US Vice President Mike Pence has said the future of Europe's Balkan nations is in the West, reaffirming Washington's commitment to the region as Russia works to assert its historical influence there.

Spain retained top spot in Group G after a 4-0 scoreline at home to Macedonia was matched by rivals Italy in Liechtenstein.

The Croatian federation has been fined 50,000 Swiss francs by FIFA for the "inappropriate behaviour" of the national team's fans during a World Cup qualifier against Kosovo on October 6.

Five things we learned in France.

France boss Didier Deschamps has challenged his players to write another glorious chapter in the country’s footballing history ahead of tonight’s Euro 2016 semi-final against Germany.

France 5 Iceland 2: France have finally come alive at Euro 2016 after producing a mercurial five-goal performance, ruthless and majestic in equal measure, to end Iceland’s fairytale and set up a semi-final against world champions Germany that has the potential to be the contest of the tournament so far.

France have pinpointed Wes Hoolahan as the Ireland player they need to thwart if they’re to prevail in today's Euro 2016 last-16 tie.

1) Granit Xhaka looks every bit a £30m player

Plenty of reasons have been propounded for Dimitri Payet’s meteoric rise from international underachiever to France’s outstanding player at Euro 2016 — but the best words to explain it probably came from Didier Deschamps.

Wes Hoolahan has been there before. Scoot back almost a dozen years and the Dubliner was an integral part of a superb Shelbourne side at the fag end of, what was at the time, the greatest European odyssey any Irish club had known.

It’s something that has slowly crept up on the Irish fans, but hasn’t been said: We may be ready to forgive France for that handball in 2009.

Forgot who the coach of Switzerland is? Can't recall who Albania's captain is?

Danskjavlar is an affectionate Swedish expression that can best be translated as ‘Bloody Danes’. It was used quite a lot after last month’s qualifying draw pitted Sweden against Denmark in the Euro 2016 play-off, with the first leg tonight in Stockholm.

Apart from the two Irish groups, what else was decided last night?

Kyle Lafferty struck a stoppage-time equaliser as 10-man Northern Ireland salvaged a point against Hungary to keep their Euro 2016 dreams alive.

Northern Ireland took a major stride towards their first major finals since 1986 tonight.

Euro 2016 qualifier round-up          

Italy coach Antonio Conte admits he does not have the time to change striker Mario Balotelli.

Morgan Schneiderlin wants to carry the feelgood factor at Southampton into the international break as Saints continue to fight at the top of the table.

Serbia have been awarded a 3-0 victory over Albania following their postponed Euro 2016 qualifier but they have also been deducted three points and ordered to play their next two games behind closed doors for their part in the furore.

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has no concerns over players such as Yaya Toure visiting West Africa despite the outbreak of the Ebola virus.

Uefa president Michel Platini fears drones could be used to drop bombs on football pitches.

Albania claim their players were assaulted by fans, stewards and police in Belgrade at the now-infamous Euro 2016 qualifier against Serbia which was abandoned after the violent scenes.

Serbia and Albania will learn their sanctions from UEFA next week following their abandoned Euro 2016 qualifier in Belgrade.

Serbia and Albania are facing stiff sanctions after Uefa charged the countries with a number of offences following the abandoned Euro 2016 qualifier this week in Belgrade.

Serbia and Albania are both facing the possibility of being sanctioned by UEFA after their Euro 2016 qualifier was abandoned last night in bizarre circumstances.

Serbia’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Albania was abandoned on Tuesday evening after a drone flown over the Partizan Stadium pitch carrying the pro-Albanian banner led to a clash between the two sets of players.

Albanian authorities have destroyed cannabis with an estimated market value of €6.4 billion this year – equal to more than 60% of the country’s annual GDP.

While it would clearly be ridiculous to make any kind of judgement on Martin O’Neill’s management after one game, tomorrow’s fixture in Tbilisi does offer a curious kind of acid test — and an immediate point of comparison.

Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane pictured insisted he and his team- mates were moving on following the uncertainty over thefuture of assistant manager Roy Keane.