Ireland to play France in international friendly

The Republic of Ireland will have a chance to buck the trend against France in 2018.

The last time the Republic of Ireland senior men's team beat France, Gay Byrne was the host of the Late Late Show, Robert De Niro was picking up Best Actor at the Oscars for his role in Raging Bull and Patrick Hillery was the president. Ireland have not registered a win against France since defeating them 3-2 at Landsdowne Road in a World Cup Qualifier in 1981. Since then, the Boys In Green have drawn against the three times and have come up short four times. The most notable games in recent history were the play-off games in which Thierry Henry's handball sent them crashing out of the 2010 World Cup and the bitter 2-1 defeat that ended Ireland's Euro 2016 run at the round of 16 stage. In 2018, Ireland will have the chance to defeat the French for the first time in this millennium when they travel to Stade de France on May 28. The FAI confirmed the international friendly on Friday evening.