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.

Ireland finished the group stage in the FIBA Women’s European Championship for Small Countries with a comfortable 73-54 win over Cyprus at the Mardyke Arena last night.

It was a tough day out for the Ireland senior women’s and men’s teams today at their respective 2018 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries, as they lost out to Luxembourg and Malta respectively.

Ireland’s re-emergence as a player on the international basketball stage won a huge boost last year when the country’s Under 18 girls ranked second in the European Championships. Now the senior women’s squad look to build on that momentum in Cork this week.

Irish coach Mark Scannell admits the pressure is on to deliver Basketball’s European Championships for Small Countries in Cork next month — even though he suspects the hosts are third favourites at best.

European champions Portugal got the victory they required over Switzerland to book their place in next year’s World Cup in Russia.

Blaise Matuidi's early goal proved enough for France to secure a crucial 1-0 victory away to Bulgaria which put them back at the top of World Cup European Qualifying Group A.

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill's team selection against Norway will not change even if their play-off place is confirmed before kick-off in Oslo.

When Martin O’Neill named three uncapped strikers in his latest squad at a press conference in Dublin on Tuesday, almost lost in the discussion about Ireland’s need to locate a cutting edge was the manager’s low key reference to Kevin Doyle “suffering a bit from concussion”.

France steamrollered Holland 4-0 with the help of goals from Thomas Lemar and Kylian Mbappe as they edged closer to qualification for next summer's World Cup finals in Russia.

The detainment of 100,000 people since the failed coup of July 2016, and constitutional reforms that bolster the president’s powers threaten a fragile democracy says Carl Bildt.

Donald Trump's new trade chief has urged Britain's rivals to take advantage of the "God-given opportunity" of Brexit to take business away from the UK, it has been reported.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan’s Budget 2017 has passed muster with the European Commission but Ireland has been warned again about the State relying on the one-off bounty from booming corporate tax revenues.

It’s a long, straight motorway, cutting through endless fields of corn, which takes you from the centre of Belgrade to Stara Pazova where, tucked away at the back of a small industrial park, resides the modern home of Serbian football, a state of the art training complex opened in 2011.

EU leaders agreed the outline of an agreement they hope to put to Turkey this morning to ease the migrant crisis.

EU leaders struggled to fit together the jigsaw pieces of an agreement with Turkey on the migrant crisis as President Michael D Higgins warned that failure to respond would be “catastrophic”.

Tensions between EU countries and Turkey threatened to unwind a complex deal to resolve the migrant crisis during long negotiations at a summit of EU leaders.

EU officials have added last- minute changes to a pact with Turkey to halt the flow of migrants into Europe in an effort to make it legally watertight, but a standoff with Cyprus could yet scupper a deal at a summit.

Bosnia has been here before, and so has Miralem Pjanic.

Martin O’Neill says he is “delighted” that Ireland will have home advantage in the second leg of their Euros play-off against Bosnia-Herzegvina next month, but stresses his team will have to perform well away from home in the first leg if they are to hope to progress to the finals in France next year.

Ireland supports giving Turkish citizens visa-free entry to the EU and €3bn funding in exchange for Turkey preventing refugees and migrants crossing into the EU, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said at a summit of EU leaders.

Robin van Persie endured a miserable night scoring an own goal as Holland failed to qualify for the European Championships following a 3-2 defeat to the Czech Republic last night.

Bailed-out Cyprus is to receive another €126m from the International Monetary Fund, which says the island nation’s reform programme continues to be “a success”.

Holland striker Robin van Persie admitted to feeling terrible after yesterday’s 3-0 Group A defeat to Turkey, but vowed to ensure victory in their final two games.

Wales are poised to end their 58-year wait to play at a major tournament after Gareth Bale’s late winner on a balmy night in Nicosia.

Gareth Bale’s late header has put Wales within tantalising reach of qualifying for Euro 2016.

Any of you mathematicians out there fancy decoding this little baby? (Deep breath): 0000011003210002002054031002651206140004.

Mario Draghi can’t afford to play by the same crisis rules as the European Central Bank did in the past.

Authorities in Cyprus have denied that there was a child abduction attempt at a hotel popular with British and Irish holidaymakers.

Ireland is surprisingly benefiting from the Greek debt crisis, with the weaker euro against its major UK and US trading partners instead providing a significant economic boost, experts say.

If Britain leaves the European Union, it could knock up to 14% off its GDP by 2030, taking into account all negative factors including lost economic dynamism, a study by two leading German institutes has found.

Euro 2016 qualifier round-up          

How typically Irish. We are the country that created the situation that Greece, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus are now in, because we came up with the idea of a bank guarantee.

It was said that the euros would be devalued. Not the currency, the football.

Wales manager Chris Coleman believes Gareth Bale embodies the spirit of a side still unbeaten in Euro 2016 qualifying after the Real Madrid star’s injury-time goal-line clearance in Brussels.

The eurozone economy grew faster than analysts forecast in the third quarter as Germany and France rebounded and Greece showed some signs of revival.

Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale is battling for fitness ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League match at Liverpool after the club announced he is suffering from a buttock muscle injury.

Gareth Bale feels team unity could propel Wales all the way to the European Championship finals in France.

The Netherlands’ World Cup hangover continues to linger and they remain off the pace in their bid to qualify for Euro 2016, after a 2-0 loss in Iceland.