* Ireland have lost only once in six meetings with Croatia, a 1-0 defeat in Zagreb in the Euro 2000 qualifiers in 1999.

* Ireland come into the tournament on the back of an exceptional run of 14 unbeaten games in which they have conceded only three goals. Their last defeat came more than a year ago when they went down 3-2 in Dublin in a March friendly against World Cup semi-finalists Uruguay.

* Ireland travel well. Their last defeat in a competitive match outside their own country goes back almost five years to a 1-0 defeat by the Czech Republic in Prague in a Euro 2008 qualifier in September 2007. They have played 13 successive competitive matches away without a loss.

* Croatia have lost just three of their last 20 competitive matches in the World Cup and Euro 2012 qualifiers.

* Croatia, playing in their fourth Euro finals, had the most unlucky of exits at the last tournament in 2008. After winning their three group games, including a 1-0 victory over hosts Austria, they seemed destined for the semi-finals when they led Turkey 1-0 in extra time. But a last-gasp equaliser was followed by a defeat on penalties.

* Croatia's best tournament performance remains the 1998 World Cup finals where they beat Germany 3-0 to reach the semi-finals only to lose 2-1 to hosts and eventual champions France.

Previous meetings:

2/06/96 Fr Ireland 2 Croatia 2 Dublin
5/09/98 ECQ Ireland 2 Croatia 0 Dublin
4/09/99 ECQ Croatia 1 Ireland 0 Zagreb
15/08/01 Fr Ireland 2 Croatia 2 Dublin
16/01/04 Fr Ireland 1 Croatia 0 Dublin
10/08/11 Fr Ireland 0 Croatia 0 Dublin

Head to head

Played: 6
Ireland 2 wins
Croatia 1 win
Draws 3

Key: ECQ = European Championship qualifier, Fr = Friendly