Women’s EURO 2025 play-off final first leg
Wales v Republic of Ireland
(Friday, 7:15pm, Cardiff City Stadium)
For the Republic of Ireland, it’s been one extreme to the other. Their Nations League positioning in League A saw them pitted against Europe’s elite last year.
Although they finished bottom of their League A pool, it was far from dismal. A final goal difference of -6 across six matches showed how The Girls in Green competed.
And the win over France - the obvious highlight - is one that will live long in the memory. Denise O’Sullivan’s goal in Pairc Uí Chaoimh was a truly special moment in her home county.
This year was a little different. Promotion back to League A was secured without fuss. Six wins, averaging three goals a game, sees the Irish back where they feel they belong.
Next up was the play-off semi-final against Georgia, and there were no signs of slowing. 9-0 on aggregate across the two legs, and a gulf in class that was all too apparent.
The pick of those was a first leg lob from Katie McCabe. It was audacious and it oozed the kind of confidence that she and her teammates began to play with in that second half.
After all it was 24th in the world versus 118th, and Eileen Gleeson’s women had essentially secured a place this far prior to the Georgians return visit to Dublin.
Aoife Mannion was one of the stars of those two legs, capped off with her first international goal in Tbilise. She is the personification of the improvement and growth of Ireland since the World Cup in Australia.
Now faced with Wales, their credentials will be put to the test for the first time in a while.
The Welsh gained promotion to League A last year, and with it earned their shot at a guaranteed EURO 2025 play-off.
They were winless through their six games, although they did pick up a draw against table-toppers Germany, and - like the Irish - they won all six games on their way to promotion last year.
Wales’ play-off was a little more appetising for the neutral, certainly more so than Ireland’s, as they overcame Slovakia 3-2 after a nerve-jangling second-leg that featured extra-time.
Top-scorer Jess Fishlock hasn’t played in the month that has passed since, but she is expected to make her return.
From an Irish perspective, Louise Quinn is among the high-profile names on the injury list, but Gleeson is boosted by the return of Megan Campbell and Ruesha Littlejohn.
Littlejohn started in an experimental Ireland side that lost to Wales this year, where Fishlock ironically scored, and new Welsh manager Rhian Wilkinson believes the Irish are “absolutely beatable”.
Gleeson will be looking for improvement for sure, but with a date in Dublin to come, she may well be satisfied with anything but defeat in the Welsh capital.