Emma Duffy
Reports from SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh
CARLA WARD HAS called for Ireland’s “biggest crowd yet” to turn out to Aviva Stadium for December’s World Cup play-off final against Poland.
Ireland completed a 12-0 aggregate rout against Kazakhstan at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Tuesday night, while Poland got the better of Belgium in a dramatic penalty shootout to set up a two-legged December showdown.
The first leg is due to take place in Gdańsk on Tuesday 1 December, with Ireland’s seeded status seeing them at home at Landsdowne Road on Saturday 5 December [KO 5pm].
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗶𝗿𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮.
We’ll face Poland for a place at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, with the second leg on December 5th at the Aviva Stadium.
Be there to support the team 💚
Fan Republic pre-sale Thursday, with general sale Friday 🫵
Speaking after Ireland’s win in Cork, Ward warned of Poland “revenge” and urged her squad to “forget Wales” after their Euro 2025 play-off disappointment at the Aviva.
“We need everyone there, don’t we?” said Ward. “Hopefully you guys (media) can drum a little bit of that up and drive people to the Aviva. We have big crowds at the Aviva, but we are going to need our biggest yet. We’re going to need everybody.
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“And why wouldn’t you want to come and support this group? They’ve been unbelievable this past year. You look at the records we’ve set. You look at the way that now we play with the ball. We’re an exciting team, I think. And why wouldn’t you want to come out and see that?”
Ward’s post-match press conference was understandably dominated by Poland, who overturned a 1-0 first leg deficit to beat Belgium 3-2 on the night and 4-3 on penalties in Gdansk.
On paper, it’s an upset: Poland are ranked 29th in the world, nine places below Belgium. Ireland – in between in 21st – beat the Poles 3-2 and 1-0 when they met in the group stages.
“I’ll be honest, I watched it,” said Ward. “I watched the whole game. They were very good, Poland were, but we’ve played them. We know what to expect. They played a similar way to when we played them first time last time round. The beauty of it is we can have a look at their games. I’m not so sure what they’re going to take away from our two games.
“Listen, let’s be really honest, they’re gonna want revenge. They’ll look at it as an opportunity to put right what they got wrong. What I would say is, if you have a look across both games, I think we were dominant. I think we were very unlucky not to walk away with a bigger scoreline away. And then if you look at the home game, Denise hit the bar. Somebody hit the post. We caused a lot of problems.
“So we’ve got to use that. I actually think we’re a better team now as well. We’re getting better all the time. We’ve got depth now, and we’ve got competition in all places, so we’re in a good position. But the biggest thing will be focus, preparation, and just having that added edge of togetherness that we have.”
Ewa Pajor in action against Ireland last time out. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
On the Polish challenge – spearheaded by Barcelona goal machine Ewa Pajor – on the road to Brazil 2027, Ward added: “I think it’s set up to be a good game. They’ve got a good squad, good players.
“We knew when we drew one of those two, we got the toughest draw. That’s a fact. I think arguably even the likes of England didn’t really want Poland or Belgium. We know what we’re up against. But look, this team’s growing all the time, so we’ll give it everything.
“I’ve just said to the group there, we’ve got six weeks. There’ll be a lot of work for us behind the scenes. I’m sure we’ll go and visit the players, make sure they’re ready. There’s been progression, but ultimately we want to get to a World Cup.”
Ward confirmed Chloe Mustaki picked up a “slight knock” in training on Monday, ruling her out of the Ireland XI for Kazakhstan, and reflected positively on a window which brought 8-0 and 4-0 wins.
Asked for the most pleasing aspect by The 42, she said: “10 goal scorers across two games. That’s unbelievable. Find me another nation that can give you 10 goal scorers in a window. In fact, if any of you can bring me the last time a country did that, I’ll buy you a drink!
“It’s so pleasing. Everyone’s contributed. We had some questions around maybe some partnerships, can players playing different variations? I’ve been really pleased with what we’ve seen.”
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Ireland boss Ward calls for 'biggest crowd yet' for Poland play-off showdown at Aviva
CARLA WARD HAS called for Ireland’s “biggest crowd yet” to turn out to Aviva Stadium for December’s World Cup play-off final against Poland.
Ireland completed a 12-0 aggregate rout against Kazakhstan at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Tuesday night, while Poland got the better of Belgium in a dramatic penalty shootout to set up a two-legged December showdown.
The first leg is due to take place in Gdańsk on Tuesday 1 December, with Ireland’s seeded status seeing them at home at Landsdowne Road on Saturday 5 December [KO 5pm].
Speaking after Ireland’s win in Cork, Ward warned of Poland “revenge” and urged her squad to “forget Wales” after their Euro 2025 play-off disappointment at the Aviva.
“We need everyone there, don’t we?” said Ward. “Hopefully you guys (media) can drum a little bit of that up and drive people to the Aviva. We have big crowds at the Aviva, but we are going to need our biggest yet. We’re going to need everybody.
“And why wouldn’t you want to come and support this group? They’ve been unbelievable this past year. You look at the records we’ve set. You look at the way that now we play with the ball. We’re an exciting team, I think. And why wouldn’t you want to come out and see that?”
Ward’s post-match press conference was understandably dominated by Poland, who overturned a 1-0 first leg deficit to beat Belgium 3-2 on the night and 4-3 on penalties in Gdansk.
On paper, it’s an upset: Poland are ranked 29th in the world, nine places below Belgium. Ireland – in between in 21st – beat the Poles 3-2 and 1-0 when they met in the group stages.
“I’ll be honest, I watched it,” said Ward. “I watched the whole game. They were very good, Poland were, but we’ve played them. We know what to expect. They played a similar way to when we played them first time last time round. The beauty of it is we can have a look at their games. I’m not so sure what they’re going to take away from our two games.
“Listen, let’s be really honest, they’re gonna want revenge. They’ll look at it as an opportunity to put right what they got wrong. What I would say is, if you have a look across both games, I think we were dominant. I think we were very unlucky not to walk away with a bigger scoreline away. And then if you look at the home game, Denise hit the bar. Somebody hit the post. We caused a lot of problems.
“So we’ve got to use that. I actually think we’re a better team now as well. We’re getting better all the time. We’ve got depth now, and we’ve got competition in all places, so we’re in a good position. But the biggest thing will be focus, preparation, and just having that added edge of togetherness that we have.”
On the Polish challenge – spearheaded by Barcelona goal machine Ewa Pajor – on the road to Brazil 2027, Ward added: “I think it’s set up to be a good game. They’ve got a good squad, good players.
“We knew when we drew one of those two, we got the toughest draw. That’s a fact. I think arguably even the likes of England didn’t really want Poland or Belgium. We know what we’re up against. But look, this team’s growing all the time, so we’ll give it everything.
“I’ve just said to the group there, we’ve got six weeks. There’ll be a lot of work for us behind the scenes. I’m sure we’ll go and visit the players, make sure they’re ready. There’s been progression, but ultimately we want to get to a World Cup.”
Ward confirmed Chloe Mustaki picked up a “slight knock” in training on Monday, ruling her out of the Ireland XI for Kazakhstan, and reflected positively on a window which brought 8-0 and 4-0 wins.
Asked for the most pleasing aspect by The 42, she said: “10 goal scorers across two games. That’s unbelievable. Find me another nation that can give you 10 goal scorers in a window. In fact, if any of you can bring me the last time a country did that, I’ll buy you a drink!
“It’s so pleasing. Everyone’s contributed. We had some questions around maybe some partnerships, can players playing different variations? I’ve been really pleased with what we’ve seen.”
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