Summary

  • Mulgrew stunned by injury-time red card

  • Both teams hit woodwork

  • FT: Hungary 1-2 Northern Ireland

  • FT: Georgia 1-2 Republic of Ireland

  1. Postpublished at 16:33 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    Martin O'NeillImage source, Getty Images

    As mentioned in the previous entry, this game is Martin O'Neill's first competitive match in charge of the Republic of Ireland.

    Since his appointment in November last year, O'Neill has overseen two wins and three draws in eight games.

    This will surely be a fixture O'Neill and assistant Roy Keane will have pencilled down as a potential win, especially with tougher opponents in the shape of Germany, Poland and Scotland to come.

  2. Postpublished at 16:27 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    Northern Ireland goalkeeping coach Maik Taylor:, external Game time! Come on lads, let's get off to a good start.

  3. Postpublished at 16:24 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    Republic boss Martin O'Neill has selected David Forde ahead of veteran keeper Shay Given for the Tbilisi qualifier.

    Given was handed his first start in two years in Wednesday's 2-0 win over Oman but Forde gets the nod for O'Neill's first competitive game in charge. An experimental line-up for the Oman friendly is replaced by an experienced Irish team.

    Republic of Ireland: Forde, Coleman, O'Shea, Wilson, Ward, Walters, McCarthy, Whelan, Quinn, McGeady, Keane

  4. Postpublished at 16:22 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    Hungary v Northern IrelandImage source, @OFFICIALIRISHFA

    Official Irish FA:, external Michael O'Neill and Steven Davis pictured in Budapest ahead of Sunday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Hungary.

  5. Radio, radiopublished at 16:20 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    BBC radio has got Northern Ireland and Scotland covered. Michael McNamee presents coverage of Hungary v Northern Ireland on BBC Radio Ulster from 16:30 BST. Commentary by Joel Taggart and former Northern Ireland international John O'Neill. Then from 19:00 BST you can listen to full commentary on Germany v Scotland on 5 live.

    Before then on Radio 5 live Club England managing director Adrian Bevington will be on 606 answering listeners questions with Kelly Cates and Ian Wright, between 17:30-18:00 BST. The show starts at 17:00 BST.

    You can also listen to them all by clicking the 'Live Coverage' tab at the top of this page.

    Northern Ireland fans in BudapestImage source, PA
  6. Ketsbaiaaaaaaapublished at 16:18 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    KetsbaiaImage source, Getty Images

    Followers of the Premier League in the late 1990s will see a familiar face in the Georgia dugout.

    Temuri Ketsbaia, the bald-headed former striker and cult legend of Newcastle United fame, has been in charge of his native Georgia since 2009.

    He has quite a job on his hands too, the Eastern European side have failed to qualify for any major tournament since the national team was formed in 1990.

  7. Ice-cold water anyone?published at 16:11 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    Outside the Dinamo Arena in TblisiImage source, PA

    Cheer up, it might never happen.

    How about 'roll up, roll up', there is business to be done outside the stadium in Tblisi.

  8. Team newspublished at 16:08 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    Norwich striker Kyle Lafferty makes his first Northern Ireland start since November 2012 when he leads the attack against Hungary in Budapest. Lafferty, 26, joined the Canaries during the summer from Italian club Palermo.

    Fleetwood defender Conor McLaughlin makes his competitive debut and only four players survive from the team which started the final World Cup qualifier away to Israel - keeper Roy Carroll and midfielders Steve Davis, Chris Baird and Corry Evans

    Northern Ireland: R Carroll (Notts County), C McLaughlin (Fleetwood), A Hughes (Brighton), G McAuley (West Brom), C Brunt (West Brom), S Davis (Southampton), C Baird (West Brom), O Norwood (Reading), C Evans (Blackburn), K Lafferty (Norwich), J Ward (Derby County).

  9. Join the debate at #bbcfootballpublished at 16:05 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    As always, these live text commentaries are nothing without your opinions, so why not have your say on all things Euro 2016?

    Our focus today is very much on the trials and tribulations of Scotland, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland so send in your thoughts on how you think those teams will fare in qualifying. Are you confident they can progress? What are your national team's strengths and limitations?

    Also, do you think there will be a surprise team qualifying? If so, who and why? Gibraltar, maybe...?

    So get involved via the usual methods - tweet to #bbcfootball,, external text to 81111 (UK only) or head along ton the BBC Sport Facebook , externaland Google+, external pages if you need a few more characters to get your view across.

  10. Postpublished at 16:03 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    Hungary v Northern IrelandImage source, officialirishfa

    Official Irish FA:, external The Groupama Arena will be bouncing when over 1,050 Northern Ireland fans pack in to the ground.

  11. Postpublished at 16:02 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    OK then, that's all from the England camp and we can switch focus back to today's action. Scotland face Germany at 19:45 BST, but first up, the Republic of Ireland play Georgia and Northern Ireland face Hungary looking to get some early qualifying points on the board. We should be getting team news for those games any time now.

  12. England news conferencepublished at 15:57 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    Roy Hodgson describes Switzerland as a 'big test' for his England side but is confident of returning with a positive result.

    "There are lot of reasons to be cheerful," the Three Lions boss adds. "If you are able to put the fact the World Cup was a major disappointment behind us, then we have a squad of players who have the desire to do well for their country.

    "There are 10 players not here who would have been serious contenders to play. Put that all together and you are looking at a large group of players. I think that bodes well for us in two to four years time, when they will all have played a lot more games for their Premier League clubs."

  13. England news conferencepublished at 15:52 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    England took four points from a possible six against Switzerland in the last European Championship qualifying campaign, But Three Lions skipper Wayne Rooney says that will mean nothing on Monday.

    "Four years ago was a long time ago," he adds. "It was a completely different team to what it is now. We have to look to the future and to the game tomorrow. There's no point looking back.

    "There is certainly a determination [to put on a performance]. We are a tight knit group and we are working hard to get the best out of each other."

  14. England news conferencepublished at 15:50 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    Wayne Rooney (left) and Roy HodgsonImage source, PA

    Asked what would be a good result for England away to Switzerland on Monday, England manager Roy Hodgson says: "When you talk about what would be a good result it depends to some extent on what happens in the game.

    "If you are losing 1-0 with 10 minutes to go and you get an equaliser, you come away thinking that was a good result. It would be foolish to start saying this would be a good a result or that would be.

    "I want the result but we do have to lift our heads a little bit and performances, and how we play is important."

  15. England news conferencepublished at 15:46 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    England striker Wayne Rooney insists the Three Lions are well prepared for their Euro 2016 qualifier with Switzerland on Monday.

    "We are ready," he says. "We have had a bit more time to prepare for the game this week and I think we've prepared well," adds the Manchester United forward. "It is going to be a big test but I think we've got the quality to do well.

    "We are focused on the game and we are ready for the game and hopefully we can get the result we want."

  16. England news conferencepublished at 15:45 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    First up, though, we will take a slight digital detour to Basel, where England manager Roy Hodgson and striker Wayne Rooney have just held a news conference to preview Monday's game against Switzerland.

    Their thoughts coming up in the next few entries....

  17. Postpublished at 15:42 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    Eurom 2016Image source, Getty Images

    Hello and welcome to our coverage of qualifying for Euro 2016.

    It may feel like mere moments ago since Germany lifted the World Cup trophy at the Maracana stadium in Brazil but, for national teams across Europe, the quest for international glory starts anew.

    Over the next few hours we will embark on a veritable jaunt across the continent as we take in Tbilisi for Georgia versus the Republic of Ireland, bob over to Budapest for Northern Ireland's game against Hungary before descending on Dortmund as Scotland face world champions Germany.

    Ready for your appetite for international football to be reignited?

  18. New tournament, renewed aspirationspublished at 15:32 British Summer Time 7 September 2014

    For the Republic of Ireland, it ended in a 2-0 defeat to Italy in 2012...

    Republic of IrelandImage source, Getty Images

    For Scotland, it was a hollow win against Switzerland in 1996...

    ScotlandImage source, Getty Images

    ...and for Northern Ireland, the dream is yet to be realised...

    Northern IrelandImage source, Getty Images

    ...but no matter how previous European Championship campaigns ended, it all starts again here.