The teams are out:
Ireland: Kelleher; Coleman, Egan, Collins (capt), O’Shea, Scales; Molumby, Knight; Azaz, Ogbene, Parrott
North Macedonia: Dimitrievski; Zajkov, Velkovski, Fetai; Churlinov, Kostadinov, Alimi, Herera; Bardhi (capt), Elmas, Rastoder
We will also keep an eye on the more competitive games in Europe tonight, the World Cup playoff finals, including Czech Republic against Denmark. They all kick off at 7.45pm too.
Bosnia and Herzegovina v Italy (Zenica)
Sweden v Poland (Solna)
Kosovo v Türkiye (Pristina)
Czech Republic v Denmark (Prague)
Meanwhile, Ireland under-21s have scored a late winner to beat Kazakhstan away from home, Oisin Gallagher scoring in the 89th minute to win 1-0.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Republic of Ireland’s friendly game against North Macedonia at the Aviva Stadium, kick-off is at 7.45pm. Let’s face it, this is not the game we wanted to see, we wanted a packed stadium to play Denmark in a playoff final for the World Cup. Ireland gave up a 2-0 lead in Prague against the Czech Republic, lost on penalties and the rest is history. Instead, Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side play North Macedonia in a friendly.
It is not the easiest game ever to hype up, but there is a certain intrigue to it, if Ireland can keep up their overall good recent form under Hallgrímsson (unbeaten in the past four games) when the pressure is off, and if it is to be Coleman’s final game in an Irish shirt, many will want to pay tribute to one of Ireland’s greatest full-backs. Some fringe players may get a run out as they build towards having a strong Nations League campaign in the autumn.