Hello and welcome to Eurosport's live commentary of the second leg of Switzerland’s World Cup Qualification play-off with Northern Ireland. This is Ryan Bailey (@ryanjaybailey) taking you through all the action from St Jakob Park tonight.

Zuber picks out Shaqiri on the edge of the area with a great cross-field pass. Shaqiri's subsequent shot is blocked.

Ward tries to break from the corner but Lichtsteiner puts in an excellent last-gasp tackle near the centre circle.

Xhaka tries to pick out Rodriguez in the box but Hughes clumsily clears for a corner.

Džemaili tries to pick out Seferović in the six yard box but McAuley intercepts for a corner.

Northern Ireland's last goal in Switzerland was scored by George Best, 53 years ago.

Shaqiri swings in the free kick but it fails to connect with any of Switzerland's six players in the area. Danger cleared.

BOOKING: Brunt brings down Shaqiri as he charges down the right flank and sees yellow for his troubles. Free kick.

CHANCE: Shaqiri swings in a pacey cross and Seferović heads just wide from the edge of the six-yard box. The No. 9 should have put that on target.

Brunt's shot was Northern Ireland's first on target in the entire play-off.

CHANCE: After a melee fromt he corner, Dallas shoots from outside the box, but his effort goes wide.

CHANCE: Chris Brunt takes a long-shot from 20 yards which is pushed away for a corner by Sommer.

With the field in this condition, playing directly and getting balls in over the top should be the order of the day for the visitors.

Debutant George Saville pushes forward but Sommer clears the danger. The playing surface looks terrible.

German referee Felix Brych gets the party started as the hosts kick off.

The visitors are aiming to reach back-to-back tournaments for the first time, having featured at Euro 2016. If successful, this will be Northern Ireland's first World Cup appearance since 1986.

Don't expect a flood of goals in this one: Northern Ireland’s last 19 games only saw both teams score on one occasion (the 3-1 defeat to Germany in October).

The teams are belting out the national anthems at the sell-out 37,000-capacity St Jakob-Park in Basel. There appears to be a respite from the rain.

Reminder: qualification is a pretty tall order for Northern Ireland tonight.

Pre-match comment from Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill: "We'll have to play better than we did at home, we'll have to play higher up the pitch and make the most of our opportunities. Our intention is to stay in the game as long as possible. There is a highly motivated bunch of players in the dressing room - they know this is a huge opportunity in their careers. We'll have to be at our best."

Bad news for the visitors: no team has ever qualified for the World Cup after losing at home in the first leg of a play-off tie.

Millwall's George Saville gets his first international start tonight, while Aaron Hughes is in line for his 109th cap, surpassing Sir Bobby Moore as the most-capped home nations defender of all time.