Ireland will take on Poland for the second time in five days, with Carla Wards side looking to move one step closer to World Cup Qualification.
After a brilliant 3-2 away win on Tuesday, Ireland will play host at the Aviva Stadium today, with the Girls in Green currently sitting third in the table, two points ahead of Poland.
A win would all but guarantee Ireland to finish ahead of the Poles, ensuring a much more favourable play-off tie and subsequently an easier route to the World Cup in 2027.
Ireland manager Carla Ward is expecting another tough test: “I think that we’re going to expect the reaction of course. Poland has got a lot of quality. We spoke about that before, they’ve shown that against really good side, getting a point against the Netherlands.
So, if anyone thinks it’s going to be a similar game, I think they’ll be mistaken. We have to treat this as a different type of game, and we have to be prepared for that”.
A crowd of over 20,000 is expected at the Aviva Stadium today, and Ireland Captain Katie McCabe is looking forward to playing in front of such a big crowd:
“I love playing here, any game we’ve played, it’s always a massive occasion. For me as a little girl coming here when it was Lansdowne Road, it was such a special thing coming to watch the men’s team play, and seeing Robbie Keane, Damien Duff representing Ireland and I’ve always wanted to do that.
So, it’s an absolute privilege to be able to do that and lead the girls out here, especially going into such a big game”.
A win today would mean that automatic qualification is still possible but with teams of the quality of the French and the Dutch ahead of Ireland at the moment, that looks unlikely, though Ireland did give both teams a tough game earlier on in the campaign.
Key Information
Kick Off: 3pm Aviva Stadium.
Where to watch: RTE 2 and the RTE Player.
Betting Odds: Ireland Win @13/20 Draw @5/2 Poland Win @3/1.
Referee: Aleksandra Česen.
Team News
Carla Ward confirmed all 24 players are fit and available, with Ruesha Littlejohn back in contention after being unavailable for the first game of the window.
Kyra Carusa is also available with Carla Ward saying “Kyra has been sensational when she’s put on that Ireland shirt, and I think she offers us something a little bit different. As you see, she’s been ever present since I’ve arrived”.
Key Statistics
Ireland have had no draws since Carla Ward has taken over with six losses and eight wins so far, so don’t expect Ireland to settle for a draw here.
Before this qualification campaign, Poland were on a run of six games unbeaten and will need to return to that kind of form if they are to lift themselves from the bottom of the qualification table.
Key Players
Katie McCabe was described as “the best left-back in the world” by her manger at yesterday’s press conference, and the Dublin native has certainly been in good form of late with three goals in here last three games for Ireland. She will need to put her penalty miss in Gdansk on Tuesday behind her and lead this Ireland team to what would be a massive win in Dublin today.
Poland’s Ewa Pajor will be crucial to their hopes of getting a result today, the Barcelona attacker scored on Tuesday and will need to be carefully managed by the Ireland defence today.
Previous Meetings
Poland 2-3 Ireland 14/04/2026
Ireland 2-1 Poland 16/02/2022.
Poland 4-0 Ireland 09/10/2018.