Republic live on BBC

Mick McCarthy's side has already knocked out Holland

The second leg of the Republic of Ireland's crucial World Cup play-off against Iran will be shown live on BBC Two.

The match in Tehran on Thursday will decide whether the Republic travel to Japan and Korea for next year's finals.

Ireland go into the game with a 2-0 lead after the first-leg but Iran showed enough in Dublin to suggest the tie is far from over.

Gary Lineker will be joined in the Match of the Day studio by Alan Hansen with Barry Davies providing the commentary.

The first leg takes place at Lansdowne Road in Dublin on 10 November and Mick Carthy's side will be desperate to make up for previous play-off disappointments.

No fears

The Republic were denied a place in World Cup 98 when they were beaten by Belgium and it was a similar story against Turkey in the Euro 2000 eliminator.

Iran have already come through one play-off to get this far after finishing second behind Saudi Arabia in their Asian qualifying group.

That set up a meeting with the United Arab Emirates with Iran winning 4-0 on aggregate to earn the right to face Ireland.

Ireland reached this stage by finishing second in their group behind Portugal, knocking out Holland along the way.

McCarthy watched both legs of the match between Iran and UAE and has no fears about travelling to Tehran despite the current unrest in the Middle East.