The French football public 'have lost track of Ireland a little bit' - Philippe Auclair

While Monday's Euro 2024 qualifier against France has been looming large for months from an Ireland perspective, it seems that it was little more than an afterthought for the French public at the start of the current international window.

Instead, they were more focused on Friday's opening group match against the Netherlands, partly due to the fact it came first in their fixture calendar but also because of the Oranje's pedigree as a leading football nation.

Not that that pedigree counted for much with France tearing the Dutch defence apart by a 4-0 scoreline in Paris in an ominous display from an Irish vantage point.

With their primary group rivals convincingly dispatched, Les Bleus' supporters will be turning their full attention to the Boys in Green, a match in which their team will be going in as heavy favourites.

But football fans in France "people have lost track of Ireland a little bit", according to French football journalist Philippe Auclair, speaking on this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast.

"(They) are not really aware of what's been going on (in Iris football)," he said.

"And I think even if you were to ask people who are involved in the game, they will say, 'Oh, Ireland. They've had a few problems, haven't they?' And they will stick with that. They wouldn't go into great detail.

"People are aware of the fact that perhaps Ireland doesn't have quite the same reservoir of players that they used to have and which we were used to (seeing).

"They will be aware of the problems there have been with the federation and the succession of coaches and so forth.

"But to be honest, and I'm sorry to say that, (Irish football) has receded in our perception of European football, which by the way might play into Ireland's advantage because