10.09. (Tue) 20:45 Austria - Ireland

Republic of Ireland and Austria go head-to-head on Tuesday night with both sides desperate for the three points that will give their World Cup 2014 qualification hopes a massive boost.

Both sides are currently level on 11 points in Group C, three points behind second-placed Sweden, who came away with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Giovanni Trapattoni's side in Dublin on Friday.

Austria, meanwhile, go into the game in Vienna on the back of a 3-0 defeat to runaway leaders Germany.

A place in the play-off round for Brazil 2014 is still possible for both sides, but both need three points from the clash at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion to keep their hopes of catching Sweden alive.

Ireland's task will be made all the more difficult by the fact that  they have not won a competitive fixture in Austria since 1958, but Marcel Koller's men had to rely on a late David Alaba equaliser to secure a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture in Dublin in March. 

10.09. (Tue) 20:45 Wales - Serbia

Wales and Serbia meet in Cardiff on Tuesday after both sides saw their World Cup qualification chances end on Friday.
Wales' slim hopes of reaching Brazil 2014 finished with a 2-1 loss to Macedonia in Skopje, while Serbia were held 1-1 by second-placed Croatia in Belgrade.

Those results leave Wales second-bottom of Group A while Serbia sit in third place, some nine points adrift of Croatia with just two games remaining.

The last meeting between the sides in Novi Sad last September ended in the hosts running out emphatic 6-1 winners.
Wales' goalscorer on that occasion, Gareth Bale, completed his £86 million transfer from Tottenham to Real Madrid last week but was not fit to play for his country in Macedonia due to a foot injury.

And while the 24-year-old will not start the match against Serbia at the Cardiff City Stadium, Wales manager Chris Coleman has revealed his star man may be able to make a substitute appearance.

"He's never going to be ready to start, it's as simple as that," he told BBC Sport.

"The fact he's turned up and is trying to be fit for us is such a huge positive and if he's ready then he may play a part.

"We'll see how he reacts between now and Tuesday."

Sinisa Mihajlovic's side, meanwhile, will be hoping for a win to secure third place in the group and a favourable seeding for the 2016 European Championships qualifying campaign.

However, they will not be able to call on midfielder Nemanja Matic as he is suspended after being sent off against Croatia. 

10.09. (Tue) 20:45 Ukraine - England

Group H leaders England can take a huge step towards World Cup qualification if they can see off the threat of Ukraine on Tuesday.

Roy Hodgson's side, who are level with Montenegro on 15 points but ahead on goal difference, ran out 4-0 winners against Moldova on Friday and they remain the only unbeaten side in the Group H.

But Ukraine, who hammered San Marino 9-0, are only a point behind and they will sense an opportunity to overhaul their visitors in Kiev.

England have problems up front, too, with Wayne Rooney (head), Daniel Sturridge (thigh) and Danny Welbeck (suspended) all consigned to a watching brief.

That leaves Southampton's Rickie Lambert as their main threat and his international career has got off to a flying start, with two goals in as many games.

Hodgson has experience to call on in other areas of the pitch, though, and he has cited Manchester City midfielder James Milner as a key player for the tricky trip to eastern Europe.

"We know what James will do," Hodgson said. "He isn't, and doesn't pretend to be, as exciting as some of the wingers we sometimes use these days.

"After a long period of time where I've not seen many wingers in the country, I'm now seeing lots of them. But we are going to need experience in Kiev. Milner is not a winger, but the qualities he brings could be very useful."

England will need to break a pattern that has emerged during their qualifying campaign if they are to earn some breathing space at the top of the group. On each of the previous three occasions that they have won, they have followed it up with a draw.

They are, however, the group's top scorers, with a commanding 25-goal tally from their seven games, with Ukraine's 19-goal haul the next-best total.

Ukraine are enjoying an excellent run of form, with 15 goals and four clean sheets from their last four matches.

Mykhaylo Fomenko's men were impressive against England at Wembley last September, when it took Frank Lampard's late penalty to deny them all three points following Yevhen Konoplyanka's first-half opener.

They will be eager to lay to rest bitter memories of their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, which ended in disappointment after they finished runners-up to England.

Despite qualifying for the play-offs, they were beaten 1-0 on aggregate by Greece, denying them the chance to try to better their performance at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where they reached the quarter-finals.

10.09. (Tue) 20:30 FYR Macedonia - Scotland

Macedonia will have their sights set on third spot in Group A as they seek to end their home qualifying campaign with a win over Scotland.
Cedomir Janevski's men have three games left but Tuesday's visit of the group's bottom side signals their final match on home soil.

The 2014 World Cup in Brazil is already beyond their reach but third-placed Serbia are just one point ahead, having played a game more.

Macedonia are fresh from Friday's 2-1 victory over Wales, their fifth win in six games at their national stadium.
Ivan Trickovski and Aleksandar Trajkovski were on target as Gareth Bale, the world's most expensive player, remained on the bench for the visitors.

The result saw Scotland slip to the foot of Group A, as they were overcome 2-0 by a superior Belgium side at Hampden Park, with Macedonia moving up two places.

And Scotland manager Gordon Strachan admitted that the Belgians were simply too good a proposition for his side.

"That's the best team we've played since I took over," he said. "Belgium were magnificent.

"It was like a heavyweight boxer up against a flyweight. They've got speed, height, strength - and we don't."

Scotland come into this game having only won once during their campaign, and Strachan will be keen to rectify that in order to avoid finishing at the bottom of the group.

Macedonia are sure to pose a challenge, though, as they look for their third straight international victory.

The two sides played out a well-contested 1-1 draw when they met at Hampden Park last September, after Kenny Miller cancelled out Nikolce Noveski's early opener.

10.09. (Tue) 13:00 South Korea - Croatia

South Korea will go in search of revenge when they take on Croatia in a friendly on Tuesday.

Igor Stimac's side thumped the Taegeuk Warriors the last time the two sides clashed back in Februrary, powering to a 4-0 win at Craven Cottage thanks to goals from Mario Mandzukic, Darijo Srna, Nikica Jelavic and Mladen Petric.

However, South Korea have since qualified for World Cup 2014, with the 2002 semi-finalists progressing to the tournament in Brazil despite a 1-0 defeat to Iran in their final game in June.

Hong's side will also have home advantage on their side for the game at the Jeonju World Cup stadium and face a Croatia team that has struggled for consistency in recent times.

Stimac's charges are five points adrift of Belgium in their qualification group and appear set to face a play-off for a place in the finals after their 1-1 draw with Serbia on Friday.

That result made it just three wins from six for Croatia, with a defeat against Scotland - who have already been eliminated from the World Cup - in June underlining their current problems.

10.09. (Tue) 12:20 Japan - Ghana

Ghana travel to Japan for an international friendly on Tuesday following their crucial World Cup qualifying victory over Zambia.

Kwesi Appiah's side went into the crucial match in Kumasi one point ahead of their visitors knowing that anything other than a defeat would take them through to the third stage of the CAF qualifying section for Brazil 2014.

Ghana, whose only defeat in Group D came in the reverse fixture against the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations champions, secured a narrow 2-1 win as Abdul Waris and Kwadwo Asamoah gave them a two-goal lead before Emmanuel Mbola pulled one back for the visitors.

But while Ghana have another stage of qualifying to go through to seal their place in next year's showpiece, Japan were the first side to reach Brazil 2014 after their 1-1 draw with Australia on June 4.

Japan's latest fixture came in a friendly against Guatemala at Nagai Stadium on Friday and goals from Keisuke Honda, Masato Kudo and Yasuhito Endo swept aside Sergio Pardo's side.
And following his side's 3-0 win, coach Alberto Zaccheroni called on the team to keep up their level of intensity in their next matches.

"We put good pressure on our opponents, particularly in midfield, while keeping our backline high. Our forwards pressed their opponents well, too, which kept Guatemala from moving up-field," he said.

"I hope we can continue doing that against other, high-ranked opponents in our upcoming games."

His Ghanaian counterpart Appiah was also in a content mood after his team's vital victory over Zambia.

"We needed to either get a win or get a draw and the most important thing our aim was to try and get a win which I think the players did very well," he explained.

"Zambia have got a very good team and it was not going to be easy game and we saw that."

Since earning qualification for the World Cup, Japan have been inconsistent as they have beaten nations such as Korea Republic, Australia and Iraq, but succumbed to three losses at the FIFA Confederations Cup.

Ghana, on the other hand, have lost only twice in their last nine matches.