World Cup qualifying: Republic of Ireland 1-1 Serbia - Kenny's side rescue point

1. Republic of Ireland rescue draw against Serbia in Dublin
2. Milenkovic OG after Milinkovic-Savic heads Serbia into early lead
3. Republic on two points after five games
4. Kenny now winless in 12 competitive games in charge
5. Serbia two points behind group leaders Portugal

Serbia look dangerous every time they come forward. This time Dusan Tadic's cross is over everyone's head.

Round of applause as the Irish play their way out of defence.

Netherlands

A very bright start for the Netherlands who are 1-0 up against Turkey in Amsterdam already - Memphis Depay crossed in for Davy Klaassen to tuck away his shot into the bottom corner inside the first minute.

Not a bad start.

Getty Images

Good defending now by Shane Duffy, the Republic's captain tonight, to shepherd the ball out of play.

A terrible mistake almost costs Ireland. Shane Duffy switches off as a pass runs into his path and leaves it go. Dusan Vlahovic slips in begind him but Gavin Bazunu makes himself big to stop his shot from a tight angle.

Gavin Bazunu palms away Dusan Tadic's corner. But Serbia end up winning another one.

Serbia are straight on the attack and John Egan and James McClean combine to head behind before a Serbian player gets onto a left-wing cross.

Serbia’s Aleksandar Mitrovic has scored 17 goals in his last 12 appearances in qualifying matches (Euros and World Cup), netting a brace in three of his four 2022 World Cup qualifiers so far.

KICK-OFF

The game begins after both teams take a knee.

'Finally he found a great coach'

Reuters

There is no doubt about Serbia's key man up front - it's Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.

The 26-year-old has scored seven goals in four World Cup qualifiers - including two against the Republic of Ireland.

He has scored 41 goals in his last 47 caps for Serbia.

Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic, when asked why Mitrovic was so effective for his country, said: "Because I am good. Finally he found a great coach.

"He has quality as a striker and there's no doubt that he has quality for the Premier League.

"We try to play very attractive and very attacking football and every striker in the world likes that, not only Mitrovic. That's why maybe he is really, really motivated to do his best.

"Finally, he is a striker who is really keen in the area. I don't know at Fulham how it works, but any time he comes to the national team and he plays the style of football which we want to deliver to the public, I think he likes it, it feels very comfortable."

'In Kenny we trust' reads one banner in the crowd as the national anthems play.

One thing is for certain, the Republic of Ireland can forget the Qatar World Cup.

With one point from four games, they already sit nine points behind Serbia in the play-off spot.

Even a win tonight would leave Ireland six points off Serbia with three games to go (against the same three teams).

Portugal beat Azerbaijan 3-0 earlier.

Arguments against Kenny...

• He is Ireland's second worst manager ever in terms of win percentage (6.7%)
• The current squad should still be good enough to beat Luxembourg
• Some of the performances haven't even been that encouraging

Arguments for Kenny...

• He is trying to blood youngsters and change the style of play - which takes time
• He has taken over maybe the worst Republic of Ireland squad in 30 years
• Wales and Northern Ireland both enjoyed success after slow starts under Chris Coleman and Michael O'Neill

The big debate

Irish football is in a bit of a culture war at the moment.

The crux of it is what is more important - getting results now or long-term planning?

There are those who want Stephen Kenny sacked - and others who say he should be given a new contract for the Euro 2024 qualifiers.

Inpho

'It's not like it's a final'

Turkey are one point above the Netherlands and Norway in qualifying.

"I have a good feeling about the game against Turkey, but it will not be easy," said Dutch boss Louis van Gaal, in his third spell in charge.

"It's a very important match for us, but it's not like it's a final.

"Turkey can play football really well. I think this is the toughest match we will have in the group."

Reuters

France short on confidence - Lloris

Reuters

France are lacking confidence after five games without a win, says goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Les Bleus have drawn five games in a row - including their penalty shootout defeat by Switzerland at Euro 2020.

They sit four points above Finland in qualifying but today's opponents have two games in hand.

"We're aware that we're in a difficult situation which maybe was not the case before the Ukraine game [1-1 on Saturday]," Lloris said.

"Finland is a game that has become more important than it should have been. We need to get our self confidence back.

"It's obvious that we're missing some confidence and against Ukraine it could have been catastrophic."

Elsewhere in Europe...

There are 11 other European World Cup qualifiers tonight, kicking off at 19:45 BST.

We'll bring you updates from them on this page.

Here they are...

• Croatia v Slovenia
• Russia v Malta
• Slovakia v Cyprus
• Bosnia-Herzegovina v Kazakhstan
• France v Finland
• Montenegro v Latvia
• Netherlands v Turkey
• Norway v Gibraltar
• Austria v Scotland - follow live text of that one here
• Denmark v Israel
• Faroe Islands v Moldova

One player who won't be featuring for the Irish again in the World Cup qualifiers is Dara O’Shea.

The West Brom defender broke his ankle in the 2-1 defeat by Portugal and is out for four to six months.

Team news

The Republic of Ireland make four changes from the disappointing 1-1 draw with Azerbaijan last time out.

Jamie McGrath, Alan Browne, Jeff Hendrick and Andrew Omobamidele are in.

It's a first start for 19-year-old Norwich defender Omobamidele.

Seamus Coleman and Aaron Connolly are injured and Jayson Molumby and Troy Parrott drop to the bench.

Aleksandar Mitrovic has recovered from a facial injury and starts for Serbia.

BBC Sport

Republic of Ireland: Bazunu, Omobamidele, Duffy, Egan, Doherty, McGrath, Cullen, Hendrick, McClean, Browne, Idah. Subs: Horgan, Molumby, Arter, Robinson, Parrott, Manning, Kelleher, Hourihane, James Collins, Talbot, Christie, Scales.

Serbia: Rajkovic, Milenkovic, Veljkovic, Pavlovic, Djuricic, Tadic, Gudelj, Milinkovic-Savic, Kostic, Vlahovic, Aleksandar Mitrovic. Subs: Stefan Mitrovic, Jovic, Racic, Ivan Ilic, Ristic, Maksimovic, Lukic, Mladenovic, Radonjic, Dmitrovic, Svilar.

The Irish have not won a competitive game since 2019 - and the only teams they have beaten in such games since 2017 are Georgia and Gibraltar.