The Republic of Ireland huddle up for a team talk. Photo credit: Ireland Football via Twitter.
Making their debut at the Women’s World Cup and certainly one to watch, are the Republic of Ireland, fondly known as ‘the girls in green’. They are one of five teams who will be playing in the competition for the first time, alongside Morocco, Philippines, Zambia and Vietnam, and are also the 41st nation to qualify for the tournament. Ireland are managed by former Netherlands defender Vera Pauw and are captained by Arsenal’s Katie McCabe.
Qualification
Ireland had a challenging but ultimately successful journey in their quest to qualify for the World Cup for the first time. 11-0 and 9-0 triumphs over Georgia were fundamental in qualification, keeping the momentum and setting a new bar of belief. Equally as important were a scrappy home win versus Finland and a victory against Slovakia. A header by Lily Agg against Finland and Denise O’Sullivan goal for the latter saw Ireland ensure a spot in the second round of the play-offs. A 1-1 draw against third-ranked Sweden also gave this Ireland team the belief that they were good enough to qualify for the World Cup.
Ireland then faced Scotland in a historic play-off in October at Hamden Park, Glasgow. A very tight game could have easily been swayed early on as Scotland were awarded a penalty though Niamh Fahey being penalised for handball. However, Caroline Weir was denied her goal through a Courtney Brosnan save, who has been absolutely critical for this team. Ireland then took the lead in the 71st minute by a run from Amber Barrett, just four minutes after coming off the bench. An emotional celebration saw Barrett kiss her black armband in respect of the ten victims of a gas explosion in Donegal, just days before.
History was made on this night- Ireland had qualified for their first ever major tournament. That Barrett goal will forever be etched in Irish history. Over the course of Ireland’s qualification campaign, the RTÉ (the public broadcaster of the Republic of Ireland) had over 126,000 streams- this achievement was massive not just for Irish football but for Ireland as a country.
The Group Stages
Ireland are not only making their debut in the World Cup, they are also playing on the first day of the competition, seeing them take on co-hosts Australia on 20th July. While the game was originally declared to be played in Sydney football stadium, which only seats 45,000, the demand of fans and growth of the game saw the game moved to Stadium Australia, which seats over 80,000.
The two sides have only faced each other once before in an international friendly in 2021, where Ireland won 3-2. With all eyes on the opening day, it will be interesting to see how both teams deal with this pressure in their first game.
Being drawn into Group B, after taking on Australia, Ireland will then play Canada on the 26th July, who hosted the competition back in 2015. Ireland’s last game in the group stages will be against Nigeria on 31st July. They will be situated in Brisbane for the duration of their time at the World Cup.
Fighting for the future
Ireland’s debut in the Women’s World Cup this summer will seem a fitting celebration, as this year marks 50 years ago that the Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team was established. However, it’s been far from a straightforward journey- like many national teams, there’s the all-to-familiar story of inequity and lack of support given to the women’s side.
In 2017, the Ireland squad stood together and demanded better. 12 members of the team attended a press conference before a friendly match versus Slovakia, where they threatened to boycott the match as a result of the poor treatment they received by the FAI. They complained that they were treated like “fifth-class citizens” and “the dirt on the FAI’s shoe”. For instance, the team accused the FAI of making them change in public toilets on the way to a match, instead of having proper facilities, and having to share tracksuits with youth teams.
Emma Byrne, Ireland’s captain at the time, voiced her frustration at the lack of cooperation, claiming that the team had given up trying to deal directly with the FAI. Despite being warned by the FAI that this strike could “endanger their careers at club and international level”, Byrne and her teammates continued the boycott, explaining that “this isn’t about us”, and they were “fighting for the future of international women’s football”. Finally, the player’s threats were lifted when the FAI agreed to provide adequate support and facilities to the women’s team.
Without such players selflessly demanding for greater and putting women’s football ahead of their own careers, it’s safe to say that Ireland’s Women’s National team wouldn’t be in the position it’s in today.
The Final 23
Ireland have played some promising international friendly games over the past few months in preparation for the competition. In April, they played USA twice, losing 2-0 and 1-0. Despite the defeats, such small scorelines against the reigning World Cup champions would certainly give this side confidence as they prepare to take on other dominant teams. Ireland just recently played Zambia in a friendly game, winning 3-2 with two goals from Amber Barrett and a first international goal for Claire O’Riordan. They will have a final send-off game against France in a sold-out Tallaght Stadium, where they have played all of their home matches since 2013.
These games have been crucial for Pauw in deciding her final 23-player squad, as well as building up minutes for players coming back from injury.
After announcing a provisional 27 player squad (as well as 4 players from SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division) for the training camp and Zambia game, Pauw admitted that she would have to break hearts as she narrowed the team down to 23. The final squad surviving the cut was announced on the morning of the 28th June, and certainly features some shocks over those omitted and included.
Goalkeepers
Courtney Brosnan, Grace Moloney, Megan Walsh
Defenders
Heather Payne, Aine O’Gorman, Niamh Fahey, Louise Quinn, Diane Caldwell, Claire O’Riordan, Megan Connolly, Chloe Mustaki, Izzy Atkinson
Midfielders
Katie McCabe, Denise O’Sullivan, Lily Agg, Ruesha Littlejohn, Ciara Grant, Sinead Farrelly, Lucy Quinn
Forwards
Kyra Carusa, Amber Barrett, Marissa Sheva, Abbie Larkin
Taking nine defenders and four forwards, it’s apparent that Ireland are looking to prioritise their back line. This comes as a surprise to many, as since the arrival of Pauw, the team have been encouraged to play less defensively. We’ve seen the goals come when they’ve taken more risks with a more attacking style of play. Whilst this may be because this World Cup is Ireland’s first, teams can’t afford to play it safe, and it also means that bright sparks of Irish forwards are being left at home.
What hasn’t changed is Vera Pauw’s priority of taking senior players into the tournament. Especially as Ireland make their debut in the competition and this will be a new experience for everyone, taking calm and experienced squad members such as Louise Quinn and Aine O’Gorman will be crucial in maintaining a focused squad. As well as captain Katie McCabe, Pauw has also selected other natural leaders such as Niamh Fahey and Denise O’Sullivan, who captain their respective clubs, Liverpool and North Carolina Courage.
It was injuries and consequently fitness issues which explained why many popular players were not included in the final 23, with Pauw wanting to select players who would be one hundred percent come the send-off game versus France. Both Aoife Mannion and Megan Campbell were not selected by Pauw, after suffering injuries near the end of the season. Ultimately, it has been a race against time and both players has just fell short, losing their places.
Another player who misses out through fitness is Liverpool’s Leanne Kiernan. Despite suffering an ankle injury in September which kept her sidelined for the majority of her club’s season, Liverpool’s top goal scorer in the previous season seemed to be on everyone’s World Cup list apart from Pauw’s. Although having played limited minutes, Kiernan featured in Ireland’s friendly game versus Zambia and looked hugely promising. It will be a massive blow not just for the young Cavan star, but also for the final 23, as they face a World Cup without their most natural goal scorer. Pauw has instead included Shamrock Rover’s young forward Abbie Larkin in Kiernan’s absence.
How is @kiernan_leanne not in this squad 🤯 even with limited minutes due to injury this year she’s still one of irelands best attacking threats. Madness https://t.co/dBZuKw668M
— Gilly Flaherty (@Gilly_flaherty) June 28, 2023
The manager has relied on other young players to step up for those denied by injuries. West Ham’s youngster Izzy Atkinson has also made the final squad, in the place of Megan Campbell. Both Atkinson and Larkin started against Zambia, so must have impressed Pauw in showing that they can step up when relied upon.
Ruesha Littlejohn has also made the cut, after the 31-year-old was sidelined for much of the season through injury.
One player who nobody was surprised to see in the final 23 was goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan. With 22 caps for her senior team and 10 clean sheets, the Everton goalkeeper has played a fundamental role in this Irish team. Since the arrival of Vera Pauw, Ireland have been encouraged to get into their opponent’s final third, create chances and score goals, playing it less defensively safe. This means that they need a technical and confident goalkeeper going into the World Cup, and that they do.
Pauw has also named three training players who are on standby: Birmingham’s Jamie Finn and Harriet Scott, as well as Sophie Whitehouse, who will travel with the squad as the team’s fourth keeper.
The Wider Impact
What has always been so heavily emphasised by this Ireland team is that their victories are not about themselves but rather for the next generation of female footballers. We’ve all seen how interest and participation in England sky-rocketed after their Euro’s victory, and Ireland’s qualification seems to be having a similar effect. This Ireland team has already got the country talking, and is placing women’s football right in the spotlight this summer. Thanks to the sponsorship of Sky Ireland, the women’s team is now unmissable- plastered over billboards, bus shelters and social media. The team even hosted an open training session in June for fans to witness first-hand the preparation going into this tournament.
FAI sponsorships are also helping to grow the game in a sustainable way, making it a record-breaking year with girls participating in football camps and programmes. For example, Cadbury launched their “The Game Is On” campaign, to drive interest in grassroots clubs. As well as seeing a rise in girls’ grassroots clubs, there has also been an increase in female coaches at grassroots level, giving young girls the strong female role models they’ve always needed.
So many years of hard work is beginning to show through the visibility of this Ireland team. Girls are walking round with the likes of McCabe’s and O’Sullivan’s on their shirts- they have people to look up to who started out just like them.
Ultimately, Ireland will be underdogs, walking into this competition for the first time. Qualification was such a fundamental achievement, so there’s almost less pressure and expectation on the team now, compared to countries with previous stints at claiming the trophy. Progressing out of the group stages will be Ireland’s priority, and they’ll just take each game as they come. If that happens, who knows how far they could go.
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