Euro 2024 Qualifying LIVE: Aurelien Tchouameni STUNNER gives France 1-0 lead over Republic of Ireland, plus updates from across Europe

71: Close! Dembele, who’s been lively, jinks past his marker James McClean and smashes it from a tight angle against the post.

That’s his last action, as he’s replaced by Kingsley Coman, super-sub. William Saliba replaces Lucas Hernandez.

68: Good save from Bazunu. Once again Tchouameni is given room to shoot – have they not learned? – and he does, but his arrowing strike is palmed away by the Southampton goalkeeper.

Some Ireland changes. Keane and Dara O’Shea on for Idah and Molumby.

Meanwhile, Wales vs South Korea is still 0-0, while Slovenia lead Northern Ireland 4-2.

62: Some housekeeping to bring you: Josh Cullen was booked a minute before that Thuram goal, and to confirm, McClean replaced Enda Stevens at left wing-back at half-time.

France dictating things now at 2-0 and a third looks much more likely than Ireland scoring one of their own.

58: Yep, Lucas Hernandez is lucky to still be on the pitch. After Jules Kounde headed behind for a corner to deny Jason Knight, Nathan Collins and Hernandez grappled from the set-piece.

Collins gave Hernandez a little shove in the back as the ball came towards him – a foul, which the referee gave – but an angry Hernandez appeared to kick out at Collins in retribution.

That left the Brentford defender writhing around on the ground in agony. Did the ref see it? Did VAR check it? That’s a red card for me.

55: So close! Mbappe races through the middle of the Irish defence, which has parted like the Red Sea, but bends it inches wide.

A let-off. It turns out he was offside. And breathe.

51: WOW! Nearly the perfect riposte from Ireland! Sub James McClean’s super cross was headed weakly across goal by Ogbene but it needed saving and Mike Maignan got across well.

From the resulting passage of play, Ogbene jinked past Griezmann and bent a left-footed curling effort JUST over the bar.

47: The worst possible start for Ireland!

Marcus Thuram scores his first ever international goal!

Brilliant start for France. Griezmann, who is utterly bossing it, played a lovely one-two on the edge of the box before laying it out wide to Theo Hernandez.

His cross was well placed to Mbappe, whose shot was brilliantly blocked by John Egan. But Thuram was there to pounce upon the rebound. He ran around the ball to create a better angle and scooped it with his right foot into the top corner.

That’s 2-0 and is that the game?

Here we go again…

45+4: And that’s the interval! France are massively on top. 64 per cent possession, 12 shots and three on target to Ireland’s two and zero respectively.

In some ways, Ireland can consider themselves lucky it’s just 1-0. But while there’s only one in it, there’s always a chance…

Grab yourselves a cuppa – second half coming up in 15 minutes.

45: Oh no. Northern Ireland don’t deserve to be 3-1 down but that’s exactly where they find themselves as wonderkid Benjamin Sesko curls in a brilliant strike.

Back in Paris, lone striker Adam Idah can’t bring a scooped pass under his spell and Lucas Hernandez just about clears.

Those need to stick in the second half!

43: Nearly half-time… and the Irish waste another set-piece. It’s probably their best chance of getting anything against France today to be honest.

Maybe ‘wasted’ is a bit harsh. They seem fairly well organised. But France are just strong defensively and are battling hard for each other.

They know they’ll need to withstand long balls up to the likes of Egan and Duffy – and so far, they have stood up tall.

Is there a late twist before the break?

37: KYLIAN MBAPPE CELEBRATES as his shot goes straight through Gavin Bazunu… but the flag is up for offside.

Tchouameni found Marcus Thuram, who was in an offside position, with Thuram’s lay-off finding Mbappe, who finished it off. The French crowd boo good-naturedly.

Earlier, Dayot Upamecano had headed a Griezmann corner wide.

Around the grounds, it’s still Wales 0-0 South Korea, Slovenia 2-1 Northern Ireland, Holland 2-0 Greece, and Denmark 2-0 San Marino.

31: Jason Knight manages to win a foul as he attempts to break upfield, giving his side some temporary respite.

The French crowd are in fine voice though. They know they’re on top.

27: Now Enda Stevens is down! He gingerly gets to his feet and can carry on. Not that you want to be carrying a knock against lightning quick winger Ousmane Dembele.

The Irish are mainly camped across their own penalty area, deep and narrow and letting France play it around in front of them.

Not much outlet up top for them.

22: John Egan does well, twice, to first block another Rabiot strike from range and then ease Giroud out of the way of a dangerous-looking cross.

Oh what a shame. Giroud is injured and has to limp off with what looks like an ankle injury. Marcus Thuram of Inter replaces him.

20: Ireland look shell-shocked by that bolt from the blue.

Defender Theo Hernandez is booked by the ref for a foul, to jeers from the Parisian crowd. Again, Ireland’s set piece is a bit aimless and comes to nothing.

Meanwhile, Petar Stojanovic has just given Slovenia the lead again against Northern Ireland. His shot deflected off Jonny Evans and dribbled in.

18: OPENER! Aurelien Tchouameni with it!

What a stunner it is, too. Kylian Mbappe – double-marked – on the edge of the box wisely decides to give the ball to his team-mate.

He nudges it back to Tchouameni, who absolutely leathers a brilliant curling finish past Gavin Bazunu and into the corner. What a strike.

15: ‘Allez les Bleus’ rings around the Parc des Princes stadium.

Ireland have had a couple of moments but the opening stages are much as you’d expect, plenty of possession and control for the hosts.

11: Josh Cullen of Burnley is lucky to get a free kick when it looked like he fouled Adrien Rabiot. They work the free kick nicely but it’s cleared.

Now then – Ogbene races down the left, like Mbappe did – but his low cross is well fielded by Mike Maignan in goal.

By the way, Wales are 0-0 against South Korea in a friendly.

8: Ireland not set up as I thought they were.

Egan, Collins and Duffy form the back three, with Stevens and Alan Browne the wing-backs, Josh Cullen and Jayson Molumby in the middle.

Ogbene and Idah are up front, with Bristol City midfielder Jason Knight the most advanced midfielder supporting those two.

Gavin Bazunu of Southampton does well to clear twice when under pressure from French attackers.

It’s already Slovenia 1-1 Northern Ireland! Andraz Sporar, who had a loan spell at Middlesbrough once upon a time, scored after three minutes.

But the Northern Irishmen equalised via Isaac Price in the seventh minute! It’s all happening over there.

Still goalless here though.

3: Adrien Rabiot’s low, skimming shot is well fielded by Gavin Bazunu in goal.

A minute later, Kylian Mbappe sears down the left, outpaces Nathan Collins, and crosses it in… but Olivier Giroud’s shot is well blocked by big John Egan.

From the resulting corner, Adam Idah flicks it on when Bazunu looked well placed to catch it, but Mbappe hooks it over.

1: Good start from Ireland!

They almost instantly win a free kick as the livewire Chiedozie Ogbene is clumsily brought down. Enda Stevens swings it in… but it’s headed away.

Kick-off is imminent…

19 all-time meetings, and the last win for Ireland was back in 1981.

Of course, one of the most famous meetings was back in 2009, and the site of Thierry Henry’s infamous handball…

But let’s not dwell on that. Still a bit raw (understandably) for the Boys in Green.

A shame for Ireland that Brighton wonderkid Evan Ferguson is out injured. He’s a fabulous player. And it pains me to say that, as a Crystal Palace fan.

Didier Deschamps’ men have won four out of four – a hard-fought 1-0 win against the Irish in Dublin, beating Holland 4-0, Gibraltar 3-0, and a 1-0 win against Greece.

Ireland were pipped by France, lost 2-1 in Greece, but beat Gibraltar 3-0.

Here’s how European Championship qualifying Group B looks…

Strong, aren’t they, Les Bleus.

The Hernandez brothers at the back, Tchouameni and Griezmann in midfield, Mbappe supporting Giroud and fleet-footed Ousmane Dembele on the other side.

Five changes for the Irish.

Duffy comes into a back five, as do Enda Stevens and Jason Knight at left- and right-wing-back respectively.

Alan Browne lines up in midfield, with Chiedozie Ogbene also in alongside Adam Idah up front.

James McClean, Aaron Connolly, Jeff Hendrick some of the players on the bench.

Lithuania have drawn 2-2 against Montenegro, while Finland beat Kazakhstan 1-0 away from home.

Tough assignment for the Republic of Ireland tonight, eh? More team news reaction coming…

This live blog will mainly be focused on the Republic of Ireland travelling to France, while we will also have updates from Northern Ireland’s trip to the picturesque Slovenia and from the other games across the continent.

Teams can take a step towards qualifying for the European Championship in 2024 tonight…

Good evening and welcome to tonight’s live coverage of the international football from Mail Sport!