The early hour of the draw is a preface for the time the games will be played at next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup but fans will just have to turn their days upside down to follow what will be a magnificent first time at the highest level of the game for the Republic of Ireland.

The draw could have been kinder but there was a potential clash with the USA and the Netherlands looking at one point, the two finalists from France 2019 so it could also have been worse.

In terms of a buzz, there can be few greater than the opening day of the tournament against the co-hosts Australia in Sydney.

That game will kick off at 8 PM local time on Thursday, July 20th, which in our summer time will mean a 9 AM kick-off time in Ireland.

The Irish team will then face a near 4,000-kilometre journey to Perth for the second game, against Canada, on Wednesday 26th July. That game is also an 8 PM kick-off but the time difference is only seven hours so that will be an early afternoon kick-off in Ireland.

What could then be the crunch game will be against Nigeria, back on the east coast in Brisbane on Monday 31st July and back to the morning kick-off in Dublin, albeit a bit later at 11 AM

Canada face a similar punishing schedule traveling Melbourne – Perth – Melbourne. Australia and Nigeria will play all three of their games on the eastern side of the country.

It was not determined by negotiation though but rather by the position within the group which was determined as part of the draw.

The FAI team is still on the ground in Australia now doing early reconnaissance of potential bases and determining how the logistics will play out.

Fans hoping to travel will have to do that themselves. Ticket sales for individual games will open tomorrow, Tuesday 25th October with a pre-sale for Visa customers.

The capacity of the Sydney Football Stadium, pictured above, is 42,512. It staged the Olympic Final in 2000 and has been rebuilt for the World Cup.

The capacity in Perth is only 22,225, while the crowd for the last game against Nigeria could be as high as 52,263 in Brisbane.

At the risk of getting ahead of ourselves, we have also taken a look at what the tournament might hold for the Republic of Ireland should the team make it from the group stage.

With 32 teams and eight groups, it is a straightforward qualification process with the top two teams in each group progressing to the knockout stage.

Each group has a mirror group for the last 16 and ours is group D which happens to have England, China, Denmark, and one of the teams yet to qualify from February’s final play-off.

If we win Group B, we will play the runner-up of Group D in Sydney on Monday 7th August with an 8-30 PM kick-off, and 9-30 back in Dublin.

If however, we come runners up we will face the winners of England’s group in Brisbane on the same day but with an earlier kick-off time of 5-30 in Australia, 6-30 AM here in Dublin.

The good news is that the way the groups have fallen we will not have to face the World Champion USA unless we get to the Final. The beauty of making it to these tournaments though is that you can begin to play out these scenarios.

It promises to be an exciting year.