NORTHERN Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will today discover who stands in their way of a place at the 2018 World Cup finals.

Both sides are unseeded for the European play-off draw at Fifa headquarters in Zurich, so can draw Switzerland, Italy, Croatia or Denmark, who are seeded as a result of their world rankings.

The two-legged ties, which can be determined by away goals and penalties, are to be played between November 9 and 14, with Italy the opponents the Irish teams will be hoping to avoid.

The eight best second-place finishers from the nine European qualifying groups advanced to the play-offs, with Slovakia missing out after pipping Scotland to the runners-up place in Group F.

The four play-off winners will take the number of European teams at next summer’s finals to 14.