Ireland are looking to take the first step to qualification for their first women’s Euro competition
Ireland Women’s national team are looking to qualify for their second successive international major tournament as they take on Wales on Friday November 29 in Cardiff City Stadium.
Ireland come into the tie as favorites as they are ranked 24th in the world compared to their opposition ranked 29th according to the latest FIFA World Rankings. Wales are looking to qualify for their first major tournament compared to Ireland who are looking to make it back-to-back qualifications in major tournaments after their impressive campaign in the 2023 World Cup.
Ireland finished 4th in their group as they faced three sides in the FIFA World Rankings top 10 in previous European champions England, Sweden and France meanwhile Wales finished top of their group with Ukraine being the only team in their group ranked in the Top 50. Ireland beat Georgia 9-0 on aggregate in the previous round with Wales edging past Slovakia 3-2 on aggregate to advance to the playoffs. Ireland manager Eileen Gleeson spoke ahead of the game about the competition differences leading up to this tie.
‘’I think we’ve both had different routes and challenges at different times, I think we obviously in league A had the tougher games and they were league B. I think the playoffs they’ve potentially had the harder game than we’ve had’’
Previous Meetings
The sides previously met back in February in Tallaght stadium which saw the visitors walk away victorious with a 2-0 win. Speaking ahead of tomorrow night’s games Ireland manager Eileen Gleeson is not worried about previous results.
“What I do know is we’re a different team to what we were in February, Wales are also different. You’re never the same team twice. And for us, it highlights to us the quality Wales have. I do think it will be an evenly matched tie and we’re looking forward to that.”
Team News
Eileen Gleeson is confident despite the injuries that her side is ready for the game. Ireland are without Manchester United’s Aoife Mannion for the fixture as Gleeson confirms she is not fit to feature. Gleeson expressed her confidence in replacements such as Niamh Fahey is up to the task despite limited playing time this season.
‘’Niamh’s playing with a top club, she’s training, she played against Newcastle…”Niamh has great experience and we’ll draw on that when she’s, you know, solid with the team, we’ll focus on that part of it. We’re well aware of the exposure she has in the training that she’s putting in, we’re happy with that.”
Ireland Squad
Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (Everton), Grace Moloney (London City Lionesses), Sophie Whitehouse (Charlton Athletic)
Defenders: Jessie Stapleton (Sunderland, on loan from West Ham United), Diane Caldwell (FC Zurich), Niamh Fahey (Liverpool), Aoife Mannion (Manchester United), Caitlin Hayes (Celtic), Anna Patten (Aston Villa), Megan Campbell (London City Lionesses)
Midfielders: Katie McCabe (Arsenal), Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina Carolina), Megan Connolly (Lazio), Lily Agg (Birmingham City), Tyler Toland (Blackburn Rovers), Ruesha Littlejohn (London City Lionesses), Heather Payne (Everton), Marissa Sheva (Portland Thorns), Izzy Atkinson (Crystal Palace)
Forwards: Kyra Carusa (San Diego Wave), Abbie Larkin (Crystal Palace), Amber Barrett (Standard Liege), Leanne Kiernan (Liverpool), Julie-Ann Russell (Galway United)
Predicted XI: Courtney Brosnan, Niamh Fahey, Anna Patten, Caitlin Hayes, Megan Connolly, Katie McCabe, Lily Agg, Denise O Sullivan, Marissa Sheva, Leanne Kiernan, Kyra Carusa.
Return Leg
With over 20,000 tickets sold for the reserve fixture in the Aviva Stadium, Irish Midfielder Denise O Sullivan spoke about the importance of both legs in the play offs.
“We can’t get ahead of ourselves, we know it’s over two legs. The full focus will be on the first leg and see if we can get something out of that. Then we’ll go back to Dublin with the home advantage and train, put in a really good performance and do well.”
Where can I watch it?
Wales v Republic of Ireland in the Euro 2025 play-offs will be available to watch on RTE2 from 6:30pm with kick off at 7:15pm.