The Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team moved to within two games of a second consecutive FIFA Women’s World Cup appearance on Tuesday evening, completing a comprehensive 12-0 aggregate victory over Kazakhstan in front of more than 10,000 supporters at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
Carla Ward’s side followed last week’s 8-0 victory in Astana with a 4-0 win in Cork, securing their place in the final round of qualification play-offs against Poland, who defeated Belgium in their Play-off Semi-Final after a dramatic 3-3 aggregate draw and penalty shootout.
The first leg will take place in Gdansk on 1 December, with the return leg at the Aviva Stadium at 5 pm on Saturday, December 5th.
A decisive home fixture with a World Cup Final place on the line is as big as it gets and offers a major opportunity to build on the women’s international team’s commercial and audience growth in recent years.
The attendance last night was 10,334, not bad for a game decided in Astana.
Jessie Stapleton opened the scoring shortly before half-time, with Katie McCabe, Lucy Quinn and Cork’s own Denise O’Sullivan adding further goals after the interval.
The performance completed an extraordinary two-match scoring return, with ten different Irish players finding the net across the two legs.
Ward was particularly pleased with the contributions made throughout her squad.
“Find me another nation that can give you 10 goalscorers in a window,” she said after the game.
The Ireland manager believes the greater depth now available to her is an important asset as the team prepares for a considerably more difficult assignment against Poland.
“We’re getting better all the time. We’ve got depth now, and we’ve got competition in all places,” she said.
Ireland won both fixtures against Poland in the recent UEFA Nations League A Campaign, but Ward expects a different challenge in December.
“They’re gonna want revenge,” she said, acknowledging that Poland will see the play-offs as a chance to reverse the earlier results.
“We know them. They know us. I think it’s set up to be a good game.”
Captain Katie McCabe told RTÉ Sport that Ireland had put themselves in a strong position, while player of the match Denise O’Sullivan emphasised the importance of approaching the final two fixtures professionally.
“Two games and we’re going to Brazil,” O’Sullivan said.
Reaching Brazil is the ultimate prize, and a full national stadium supporting the attempt would also be a strong statement about how far women’s football in Ireland has travelled.
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Image Credit: FAI
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