Kenny chasing the victory that could define his reign

Three years into the job, and it seems that this is the one that Stephen Kenny has been waiting for, with the arrival of Europe's top team into Dublin.

France can no longer claim to be the world’s best, having fallen to Argentina on penalties in the Qatar Christmas decider, however, they remain the continent’s finest, and the most consistent team in the world over the past eight years, according to the Ireland manager.

On Friday night, the Didier Deschamps juggernaut continued to roar, steamrolling the Dutch 4-0 in their opening encounter on the road to qualification for Germany 2024.

And yet, Kenny appears to be relishing the challenge that his side will face at the Aviva Stadium on Monday night, as his team maintain their quest for that one big win that often defines an Ireland manager’s tenure.

England away at Wembley – albeit a friendly fixture – came way too soon at the beginning of this new era in Irish football, while it could have, and perhaps should have, happened away in Portugal 18 months ago, as Kenny’s men were leading 1-0 with two minutes left on the clock.

It never happened. And then again in the return fixture, there were signs that it was imminent, but still this Ireland team are waiting for a result to really kick-start the current generation.

Euro 2024 was always the tournament that the manager was looking towards as he attempts to joins the great managers who have qualified Ireland for a major football event.

A task made quite a bit easier since the expansion to a 24-team format, most notably when compared to the attritional eight-team days of Euro 88, where Ireland first dined at the top table of European football.

But as we saw in 2016, qualification brings with it all the benefits for football in Ireland,