Despite topping their group, the highly fancied French side had yet to sparkle in their first three matches of the tournament and they almost instantly found themselves in trouble against the Irish team.

After two minutes of the tie, the Irish found themselves in front when Robbie Brady converted a penalty, following Paul Pogba clumsily fouling Irish striker Shane Long in the box.

The home team were left largely frustrated by their disciplined opponents throughout the majority of the first half and were eventually booed off at the end of the opening period.

France came out renewed in the second half and deservedly drew level when Antoine Griezmann headed in after 57 minutes had been played.

The 25-year-old netted his third goal of the tournament after controlling an Oliver Giroud knock-down and firing beyond goalkeeper Darren Randolph just three minutes later.

Griezmann effectively put the contest beyond the Irish team’s reach when he was fouled when through on goal, with the culprit, Shane Duffy, receiving a red card to further dent the Republic of Ireland’s hopes of a comeback.

Substitute André-Pierre Gignac hit the crossbar in the latter stages for France, who eventually eased to the 2-1 victory to set up a quarter-final match with either England or Iceland.

World champions Germany cruised to a straightforward victory over Slovakia in their last 16 tie, with defender Jerome Boateng giving them an early lead with a well place volley after seven minutes.

Mesut Ozil had the opportunity to double their advantage from the penalty spot, following a poor challenge from Slovakia’s Martin Škrtel, but the Arsenal midfielder saw his penalty easily saved by Matus Kozacik.

His miss nearly proved costly on the stroke of half-time when Juraj Kucka saw a header superbly saved by Manuel Neuer, with the Germans then breaking to double their advantage, as Mario Gomez finished from close range after fine work from Julian Draxler.

Draxler put the contest beyond Slovakia in the second half, as the midfielder turned home from close range, when left unmarked from a corner.

Germany will now meet the winners of tomorrow’s match between Italy and two-time defending champions Spain.

Belgium booked a quarter-final date with Wales after thrashing Hungary 4-0, after delivering a dominant display at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille.

Defender Toby Alderweireld headed Belgium into an early lead from a free-kick, but despite controlling most of the play they were made to wait until substitute Michu Batshuayi struck 12 minutes from time to double their lead.

The striker had turned home an Eden Hazard cross with his first touch and moments later, the provider turned goalscorer as Hazard scored an superb solo effort.

Yannick Carrasco added further gloss to the scoreline by slotting home the fourth goal in the final minute, following a quick counter-attack.