Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland get the best World Cup draws they could hope for

They avoided Italy and Croatia.

The Republic of Ireland have been drawn with Denmark in the World Cup playoff draw, and Northern Ireland will play Switzerland. Martin O'Neill's men came out third in the draw, carried out by Spain legend Fernando Hierro, and will face the Danes in Copenhagen first before heading to Dublin for the return tie. The Danes are the lowest ranked of the four seeded teams and finished second to Poland in their group, losing twice and drawing twice. Northern Ireland will play against Switzerland, the highest ranked team in the draw who won an impressive nine of their 10 qualifiers before losing to Portugal earlier this month. They will play the first leg at Windsor Park in Belfast, before travelling to Switzerland for the second leg. The draw was carried out in Zurich, on Tuesday afternoon, and pitted the best of the European qualifiers' second place sides against each other. Matches will be played over two legs, next month, with away goals and penalties coming into play if no team emerges as an outright victor. While the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland won't have an easy draw, they will be relieved to not have to play either Italy or Croatia. FULL DRAW

• Northern Ireland vs. Switzerland
• Croatia vs. Greece
• Denmark vs. Republic of Ireland
• Sweden vs. Italy