Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Republic of Ireland: Date, Live Stream and TV Info

Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Ireland each have a final opportunity to make it into next summer’s European Championship, as the two nations get set to square off in the first leg of their play-off tie.

Despite the extra places up for grabs at the major tournament, neither side were able to notch an automatic qualifying spot after their respective group matches. Bosnia and Herzegovina were usurped by a resurgent Wales and Belgium, while Ireland were third in a testing pool which contained Germany, Poland and Scotland.

Still, after each finished their respective qualifying campaigns strongly, this two-legged tie should make for engrossing viewing, starting with Friday’s clash in Zenica.

Here’s a look ahead to the match and all of the key viewing details for this play-off fixture.

Date: Friday, Nov. 13

Time: 7:45 p.m. (GMT), 2:45 p.m. (ET)

Live Stream: Sky Go (UK), Watch ESPN (U.S.)

TV Info: Sky Sports 1 (UK), ESPN 2 (U.S.)

Qualification Lifeline for Bosnia and Ireland

Amel Emric/Associated Press

Neither Bosnia nor Ireland were able to fully fulfil their potential throughout the course of their qualifying campaign, and will each be delighted to have been handed a lifeline ahead of Euro 2016.

Of the two nations, Bosnia are the favourites to emerge from this tie and will be keen on taking advantage of the home leg being played first.

They’re in strong recent form, too, overcoming a dreadful start to their qualifying process to snatch a play-off berth. They ended the campaign with three wins in succession, including a 2-0 triumph over Wales.

VI-Images/Getty Images

Encouragingly for manager Mehmed Bazdarevic, he has players in brilliant form to call upon as well, most notably the Roma duo of Edin Dzeko and Miralem Pjanic.

The former is certainly beginning to find his feet in front of goal after his summer move from Manchester City, per WhoScored.com:

Ireland will need to keep a close eye on Pjanic, though. The midfielder is the kind of player who can dictate the course of a match from his central station, showcasing his refined passing range, technical skills and sharp footballing instincts throughout the campaign for the Giallorossi. If he’s given time, he’ll hurt Ireland.

BRUNO FAHY/Getty Images

The visitors will need to ensure they don’t give away too many needless fouls around the penalty area either, as the Roma man is a deadeye with a dead ball, as BreatheSport illustrate here:

"

Miralem Pjanic could miss his next 160 free-kicks and still have a better conversion rate than Cristiano Ronaldo! pic.twitter.com/N9KSyWkkrm

— BreatheSport (@BreatheSport) October 27, 2015"

Ireland have qualities of their own they’ll be hoping to imprint on the match.

Indeed, in their penultimate qualifying game, Martin O’Neill’s side were able to beat world champions Germany with a tremendous all-round showing, although they will be without their goalscoring hero from that night, with Shane Long missing this one through injury, per the Press Association (via the Guardian).

Even so, the visitors have shown enough to suggest they are capable of taking a positive result back to Dublin for the second leg.

In addition, they have some recent experience in play-off matches, getting the better of Estonia over two legs at the same stage four years ago.

“The calmness of the players reminds me of the Estonia game," revealed Ireland captain Robbie Keane, per RTE. ”Going into that game, I felt a calm, confident approach from the players and I got that feeling this week in training.”

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

They’ll be backed by a raucous travelling support, too, as is always the case for the men in green.

Ireland Women's international Stephanie Roche commented on the swathes of fans that will be heading out to Zenica for this one:

Regardless of how well Ireland play, it’ll be tough for them to better the 4-0 win they notched in Estonia four years ago.

Bosnia boast some quality attacking players and will have plenty of the ball on the night. They seem to have turned a corner under Bazdarevic, too, making them extremely awkward opposition on home soil.

While Ireland will be difficult to break down, tough in the tackle and willing to battle for every ball, not preserving an attacking threat comparable to Bosnia will see them penned in. Expect the hosts to break through eventually and take a narrow advantage to Dublin for the second half of this double header.

Prediction: Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-0 Republic of Ireland