The Republic of Ireland will travel to Kazakhstan for their opening qualifier for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Giovanni Trapattoni's men, who qualified for Euro 2012 through the play-offs, have been drawn in Group C along with Germany, the Faroe Islands, Sweden and Austria and the Football Association of Ireland reached an agreement at the headquarters of the DFB in Frankfurt.
Ireland will open their campaign against Kazakhstan on September 7 2012 and just over a month later they will welcome Germany to the Aviva Stadium with a trip to the Faroe Islands planned for October 16.
Sweden will host the Boys In Green on March 22 before Austria travel to Dublin just four days later. The final qualifier of the season sees Ireland host the Faroe Islands on June 7.
In the space of three days in September 2013 Ireland will play Sweden and Austria before the final round of matches in October.
The penultimate match could prove decisive with Ireland travelling to Germany before qualifying draws to a close with Kazakhstan's visit to Dublin on October 15.
Reacting to the schedule, Trapattoni said: "This is a good fixture schedule for our team with a good balance to the matches. We finish the campaign at home and start with a single away match against Kazakhstan which was important given the long distances involved.
"I am also happy with the balance obtained in the double headers and the timing of what we would expect to be some of the key matches in the group."
In order to reach a final scheduled the participating teams agreed to allow the Faroe Islands to place Austria in early June, 2012, with the backing of UEFA.
Fixtures for 2014 World Cup qualification Group C:
September 7, 2012
Kazakhstan v Republic of Ireland
October 12, 2012
Republic of Ireland v Germany
October 16, 2012
Faroe Islands v Republic of Ireland
March 22, 2013
Sweden v Republic of Ireland
March 26, 2013
Republic of Ireland v Austria
June 7, 2013
Republic of Ireland v Faroe Islands
September 6, 2013
Republic of Ireland v Sweden
September 10, 2013
Austria v Republic of Ireland
October 11, 2013
Germany v Republic of Ireland
October 15, 2013
Republic of Ireland v Kazakhstan