Main Event

SOCCER/Ireland v Israel

What is it? It's crunch time - with the fourth group in the European section of the World Cup qualifying competition finely balanced, something has to give. We hope that something won't turn to be the Republic of Ireland.

When and where? Brian Kerr treated yesterday's match at Celtic Park as a warm-up for Ireland's meeting with Israel at Lansdowne Road next Saturday (June 4th), with an away date with the Faroe Islands scheduled for the following Wednesday.

And? Ireland have slipped up to Israel in this competition already. In March, a Clinton Morrison strike was cruelly cancelled out by a late, late Israeli strike. Six points in the next 10 days would go a long way to compensating for that mistake and would be a huge step in the right direction, i.e. Germany. A result similar to the one we got when Israel played at Lansdowne Road in November, 1987 - the home side won 5-0 - would be nice.

Format? It's a long road to the 2006 World Cup and only 32 teams will make it. The hosts are guaranteed a place and will be joined by 13 other European nations. The format is relatively simple - win the group and you're off to the finals, with the two best runners-up also qualifying automatically. The six other second-placed teams will then be drawn against each other. The three play-offs will take place on a home-and-away basis, the three winners scraping into the finals.

TV? Next weekend's game in Dublin has a 7.30pm kick-off and will be live on RTÉ and Sky Sports.