IT’S THAT TIME again where we are faced with the inner conflict of watching a major football tournament in which Ireland are not involved.
The 2025 Uefa Women’s European Championships get underway in Switzerland this evening, and we are observing from afar again.
The expectation was Ireland would be there. After qualification for a first major tournament in the 2023 World Cup, Katie McCabe and co were fancied to back it up with a maiden Euros appearance. But the dream died last December, Wales winning a two-legged playoff and qualifying for their first finals.
The sense of missed opportunity was huge then, but heightens more so as the openers in Thun and Basel arrive.
Regret. Pain. Envy.
Yet, there’s excitement and anticipation.
Wrestling with these conflicting feelings is a dynamic Irish football fans have become accustomed to. Qualification for tournaments has not been a regular occurrence recently. In the last 25 years, we have had the 2002 World Cup, Euro 2012 and 2016, and the women’s historic debut in 2023.
More often, we have watched from a distance. Lived vicariously through others. Told ourselves Ireland would be there next time.
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Well, here we go again.
The hope was Australia 2023 would be a springboard, that the Ireland women’s team featuring at tournaments would become the norm. That may still transpire, of course, but it’s impossible to shake this sense of a blown chance. Ifs, buts and maybes.
What could have been. What should have been . . .
The same feelings lingered after failure to qualify for Euro 2022; defeat to Ukraine in Kiev proving costly for Ireland, and Northern Ireland later prevailed from the playoff.
That tournament in England was still enjoyed, record numbers tuning in as RTÉ showed every game and many fans crossing the Irish sea to take in games.
The 42 didn’t make the trip, but fondly remembers watching the thrilling England versus Spain quarter-final on a phone in a pub in Galway when the television was broken.
Similar experiences will undoubtedly follow this time around as the action unfolds in Switzerland. A brilliant tournament lies in wait without us.
While squads were named and final preparations ramped up in recent weeks — Wales manager Rhian Wilkinson spoke about conquering their Everest as she unveiled her selection at the top of the country’s highest mountain, Snowden or Yr Wyddfa — Ireland faced a very different prospect.
The Nations League playoff against Belgium — also Euros bound — in October is their main international focus after an off-Broadway 2025.
As a mixed group campaign wound down last month, Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan spoke about the lingering disappointment.
“It’s going to be difficult with the Euros on this July,” said McCabe.
“I’ll probably turn my telly off. I won’t be watching it. It’s going to hurt. But we have to feel that. Keep striving to get better. And obviously the 2027 World Cup is a big driving force for us.”
Denise O'Sullivan and Katie McCabe after last year's Euro 2025 playoff defeat. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
O’Sullivan echoed those sentiments, wrestling with her own conflicting feelings in the same breath, as she brought it up unprompted in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
“That defeat against Wales from last year can stand to us going into the playoff. We’ve learnt a lot, it still hurts a lot because the pain hasn’t gone from that game.
“I think I’ll be switching the TV off, doing everything I can not to watch it, but I have teammates from Courage playing in it.
“I know I’m saying I’ll be switching the TV off but I’ll watch to cheer them on. It’s still devastating not to be there, for sure.”
O’Sullivan and McCabe are 31 and 29, almost 30. Ireland’s leading lights are in their prime, with quite a few others in the squad in that age bracket.
O’Sullivan will be 33 when the 2027 World Cup rolls around in Brazil, 35 for Euro 2029. McCabe will be 31, almost 32; then 33, soon 34.
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The window will close for this generation. Time waits for no one: football careers are fleeting, and opportunities to qualify for major tournaments are few.
This, of course, is known, but it will hit home again and again over the coming weeks.
Regrets will deepen as Wales make their bow in the Group of Death; as England seek to defend their title and world champions Spain set out as favourites.
Envy will intensify as young players light up the tournament, teams etch their names into history, and fans traverse Switzerland with Euros fever in full flow.
Motivation will heighten too: for future playoff rivals Belgium, for the next World Cup tilt, for the future.
But watching on, enjoyment will inevitably trump all else as the moment takes hold.
Here we go again. Just like Denise O’Sullivan, not watching but absolutely watching — let’s be honest.
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Regret, enjoyment, hope: The inner conflict of watching a tournament without Ireland
IT’S THAT TIME again where we are faced with the inner conflict of watching a major football tournament in which Ireland are not involved.
The 2025 Uefa Women’s European Championships get underway in Switzerland this evening, and we are observing from afar again.
The expectation was Ireland would be there. After qualification for a first major tournament in the 2023 World Cup, Katie McCabe and co were fancied to back it up with a maiden Euros appearance. But the dream died last December, Wales winning a two-legged playoff and qualifying for their first finals.
The sense of missed opportunity was huge then, but heightens more so as the openers in Thun and Basel arrive.
Regret. Pain. Envy.
Yet, there’s excitement and anticipation.
Wrestling with these conflicting feelings is a dynamic Irish football fans have become accustomed to. Qualification for tournaments has not been a regular occurrence recently. In the last 25 years, we have had the 2002 World Cup, Euro 2012 and 2016, and the women’s historic debut in 2023.
More often, we have watched from a distance. Lived vicariously through others. Told ourselves Ireland would be there next time.
Well, here we go again.
The hope was Australia 2023 would be a springboard, that the Ireland women’s team featuring at tournaments would become the norm. That may still transpire, of course, but it’s impossible to shake this sense of a blown chance. Ifs, buts and maybes.
What could have been. What should have been . . .
The same feelings lingered after failure to qualify for Euro 2022; defeat to Ukraine in Kiev proving costly for Ireland, and Northern Ireland later prevailed from the playoff.
That tournament in England was still enjoyed, record numbers tuning in as RTÉ showed every game and many fans crossing the Irish sea to take in games.
The 42 didn’t make the trip, but fondly remembers watching the thrilling England versus Spain quarter-final on a phone in a pub in Galway when the television was broken.
Similar experiences will undoubtedly follow this time around as the action unfolds in Switzerland. A brilliant tournament lies in wait without us.
While squads were named and final preparations ramped up in recent weeks — Wales manager Rhian Wilkinson spoke about conquering their Everest as she unveiled her selection at the top of the country’s highest mountain, Snowden or Yr Wyddfa — Ireland faced a very different prospect.
Carla Ward’s side were hammered by the US in two rather pointless friendlies, without McCabe and several others, and now resume their off season and continue to holiday before returning to their clubs.
The Nations League playoff against Belgium — also Euros bound — in October is their main international focus after an off-Broadway 2025.
As a mixed group campaign wound down last month, Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan spoke about the lingering disappointment.
“It’s going to be difficult with the Euros on this July,” said McCabe.
“I’ll probably turn my telly off. I won’t be watching it. It’s going to hurt. But we have to feel that. Keep striving to get better. And obviously the 2027 World Cup is a big driving force for us.”
O’Sullivan echoed those sentiments, wrestling with her own conflicting feelings in the same breath, as she brought it up unprompted in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
“That defeat against Wales from last year can stand to us going into the playoff. We’ve learnt a lot, it still hurts a lot because the pain hasn’t gone from that game.
“I think I’ll be switching the TV off, doing everything I can not to watch it, but I have teammates from Courage playing in it.
“I know I’m saying I’ll be switching the TV off but I’ll watch to cheer them on. It’s still devastating not to be there, for sure.”
O’Sullivan and McCabe are 31 and 29, almost 30. Ireland’s leading lights are in their prime, with quite a few others in the squad in that age bracket.
O’Sullivan will be 33 when the 2027 World Cup rolls around in Brazil, 35 for Euro 2029. McCabe will be 31, almost 32; then 33, soon 34.
The window will close for this generation. Time waits for no one: football careers are fleeting, and opportunities to qualify for major tournaments are few.
This, of course, is known, but it will hit home again and again over the coming weeks.
Regrets will deepen as Wales make their bow in the Group of Death; as England seek to defend their title and world champions Spain set out as favourites.
Envy will intensify as young players light up the tournament, teams etch their names into history, and fans traverse Switzerland with Euros fever in full flow.
Motivation will heighten too: for future playoff rivals Belgium, for the next World Cup tilt, for the future.
But watching on, enjoyment will inevitably trump all else as the moment takes hold.
Here we go again. Just like Denise O’Sullivan, not watching but absolutely watching — let’s be honest.
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