France to face Ireland in World Cup playoffs; Portugal to play Bosnia

France to face Ireland in World Cup playoffs

ZURICH — France will face Ireland in a two-leg playoff for a spot at next year’s World Cup in South Africa, while Portugal was drawn Monday to play Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Also, Russia will face Slovenia and Greece will play Ukraine. The draw featured the eight best runners-up from European qualifying.

France got perhaps the toughest test of the four seeded teams. The French will travel to Dublin for the first leg and host the Irish for the crucial return.

“I don’t think they wanted to play us either,” France technical director Gerard Houllier said. “Both teams start with an equal chance. A lot of Irish and French players play in the Premier League so it’s going to be a good game.”

Portugal, Russia and Greece must all play at home first before facing their lower-ranked opponents on the road.

The matches will be played Nov. 14 and 18.

The draw for the World Cup finals will be made on Dec. 4 in Cape Town. Next year’s 32-nation tournament is scheduled for June 11-July 11.

FIFA was criticized when it decided last month — with just two rounds of qualifying left — to seed the playoff draw and ensure that the highest-ranked nations would not face each other.

Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni suggested FIFA acted to protect marquee attractions, such as Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo and France striker Thierry Henry.

France, the highest-ranked team at No. 9, stumbled in qualifying despite an array of world-class forwards such as Henry, Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema. The French lost in Austria, labored to beat Lithuania and eventually allowed Serbia to win their group with one match to spare.

France coach Raymond Domenech faced regular calls for his firing despite having led France to the 2006 World Cup final.

Ireland was the only playoff team to go unbeaten through qualifying, yet finished runner-up to world champion Italy. Portugal, ranked No. 10, also struggled as it got only one victory in its first five matches.

Ronaldo failed to score in the 10-match series but helped his country edge past Sweden to finish runner-up behind Denmark.

Russia coach Guus Hiddink is aiming to lead his fourth different nation at a World Cup, after placing second behind Germany in qualifying.