Ireland-Latvia friendly confirmed for March window

Ireland will host Latvia in a March friendly five days ahead of their Euro 2024 opener against France, the FAI confirmed in a statement this afternoon.

Stephen Kenny's side are one of only six nations not to feature in competitive action on the opening round of fixtures, with the Latvians being flagged last month as the likeliest candidates for a friendly in the vacant slot.

Ireland begin their Euro 2024 campaign with a daunting fixture at home to the beaten World Cup finalists France on 27 March.

The French themselves commence their campaign three days earlier, with a home game against top seeds the Netherlands.

The fixture against France in Dublin is Ireland's only game of the opening window, with their second match arriving in June, away to Greece.

Speaking in the wake of the game against Malta last month, Kenny admitted that Ireland were not looking for a "grueling" game ahead of the France encounter, indicating that he would likely not field a first team in said friendly.

Ireland have a 100% record against Latvia in international football, with only one goal conceded in five matches. Their most recent encounter was a 3-0 friendly win in November 2013, the opening game of Martin O'Neill's reign.