Republic of Ireland v Germany background

The Republic of Ireland can only be certain of having a UEFA EURO 2016 place to play for in their final Group D game if they win in Dublin on 8 October – and keep world champions Germany hanging on.

• A draw will confirm Germany's berth at UEFA EURO 2016 as one of the top two in the section.

• Ireland are the only team that can deny Joachim Löw's side a ticket to the finals.

• Ireland trail second-ranked Poland – their last-day opponents on 11 October – by two points; if Poland win in Scotland, and Ireland fail to beat Germany, Ireland will be able to finish no higher than third.

Previous meetings
• John O'Shea marked his 100th international appearance with the last-gasp equaliser when Ireland held the world champions to a 1-1 draw in their first Group D meeting last October.

• Ireland's record in 19 fixtures against Germany is W5 D5 L9 (W0 D3 L3 in competitive games).

• Ireland's sole victory in Germany since reunification was a 2-0 friendly success in Hanover on 29 May 1995, Tony Cascarino and Gary Kelly scoring the goals.

• Löw's team's last trip to Dublin ended in a 6-1 FIFA World Cup qualifying win on 12 October 2012; it was Ireland's worst result since a 7-0 friendly defeat by Brazil in 1982.

Form guide
• Ireland remain unbeaten at home in Group D (W2 D2) and have lost just one competitive home match (2-1 to Sweden in September 2013) in their last eight (W4 D3 L1) since Germany's last visit.

• Germany have won all five of their Group D fixtures since their last encounter with Ireland, racking up 19 goals in the process and conceding only three.

Disciplinary
• Bastian Schweinsteiger is a booking away from a ban.

• James McClean and Glenn Whelan are suspended for the Germany game; Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy, Jon Walters and Marc Wilson will incur a ban with their next yellow cards.

Trivia and links
• Lukas Podolski's next international goal will be his 49th for Germany.

• With 67 strikes, Ireland's Robbie Keane is the fifth-highest scoring European international of all time. He needs one more to match Germany's Gerd Müller in fourth place.

• Keane is also the second-highest scorer in UEFA European Championship history with 23 goals, three behind Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo.

• Ireland's next victory will be their 50th in the UEFA European Championship.

• Germany's record in nine UEFA age-group competition meetings with Ireland is W11 D0 L4. German clubs' record in 31 UEFA games against Irish counterparts reads W23 D5 L3.