Poland and the Republic of Ireland meet on Sunday evening in Warsaw for the final group match of the European qualifiers to decide on the final standings in group D.
The Republic of Ireland guaranteed a third placed play-off position in the group after beating World Champions Germany 1-0 in Dublin on Thursday night thanks to a second half Shane Long strike. However, as Poland and Scotland shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw at Hampden Park, it means the two teams go into the final group match level on points with 18 a piece.
Germany currently sit top of group D with 19 points and face a home match against Georgia and are expected to respond with three points and top the group, leaving second place all to play for. However, if Germany do lose tomorrow evening and Ireland managed a point with Poland, the two teams in Warsaw will qualify automatically.
Home advantage could be key for the Poles
Robert Lewandowski's late equaliser for Poland on Thursday mean that the hosts go into the game as favourites to finish in the top two and avoid two more games to make next summers Championships.
Poland will look to make home advantage count as their four games they have played at home in the group, they have failed to suffer a defeat with three victories and a draw, whilst captain and leading goalscorer Lewandowski has scored 14 goals in his last five matches for club and country.
Ireland hoping for the right result
Martin O'Neil's men will automatically qualify for the Championships in France this summer if they manage to secure three points against their opposition or draw 2-2. Uefa prefer to use head-to-head results, rather than goal difference to separate teams on the same points. A 2-2 draw would mean that Ireland scored two away goals, one more than the goal Poland scored in Dublin, therefore placing Ireland above the Poles.
The boys in green have a tendency to scoring late on as three of their 18 goals of the campaign have come in the 90th minute, including Shane Long's late equaliser the last time the two met in a 1-1 draw at the Aviva Stadium.
Team News
The Republic of Ireland's win on Thursday came at a price as Shay Given is ruled out of tomorrow's crunch game after leaving the pitch before half time being replaced by Darren Randolf.
Rob Elliot has been called up to the squad as cover for the injured Given, but after an impressive performance against the Germans, Randolf is set to start against the Poles. The good news for Ireland is that Glen Whelan and James McClean are available after serving a suspension against Germany, whilst Marc Wilson and Seamus Coleman are expected to be fit after both missed out through injury.
Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is an injury doubt after suffering a hip problem on Thursday night but if he can recover in time for Sunday, Nawalka could name an unchanged starting lineup from the draw with Scotland.
Predicted line-ups
Poland: (4-4-2) Fabianski; Glik, Piszczek, Pazdan, Maczynski, Krychowiak, Grosicki, Rybus, Blaszczykowski, Milik, Lewandowski
Rep of Ireland: (4-2-3-1) Randolph; Coleman, Keogh, O'Shea, Brady; McClean, McCarthy, Whelan, Hoolahan, Walters; Long