A semi-final against minnows Kazakhstan, before a tricky potential final against recent opponents Belgium or Poland.
“When you want to get to Brazil, it’s always going to be a difficult route,” says the Ireland boss over Zoom from Uefa HQ in Nyon.
“There’s a couple of bits in both rounds that will naturally cause us some difficulties. But look, I think we’ve been in tremendous form, and confidence is high. We have to keep believing that we can get there, and we’ll do everything we can to do that.”
Kazakhstan are the lowest-ranked team Ireland could have drawn, 79 places inferior in the Fifa Women’s World Rankings in 100th.
But in Ward’s own words, it’s “a logistical nightmare” with a direct charter flight from Dublin seven hours – up on 10 hours 30 minutes with a layover – and the time difference four hours.
And she agrees with the notion that the second round couldn’t be tougher.
In contrast, Belgium were the only higher-ranked opponents Ireland could be pitted against, placed 18th in the world. Ireland did extinguish the Red Flames in last October’s Nations League promotion/relegation play-off, but it took a last-gasp Abbie Larkin winner to prevail 5-4 on aggregate. (Ireland won 4-2 at Aviva Stadium, before a 2-1 defeat in Leuven).
The Girls In Green beat Poland (ranked 29th) twice in their qualifying group in April – 3-2 away, 1-0 at home – but, similarly, a rematch could prove challenging.
“I think everybody in the room would probably say that that was the one that everyone wanted to avoid. Belgium and Poland are top sides,” says Ward.
“But look, you know what, if you’re going to get to a World Cup, you’ve got to beat the best. We’re in a good position with the campaign we’ve had, so we’ll go into it with confidence.
“First of all, we’ve got to get past Kazakhstan. It’s not easy, it’s a logistical nightmare, some would say. It’s not going to be easy, but I think Kazakhstan, Poland and Belgium are all going to be difficult. We’ll do everything we can to get over that first hurdle, and then obviously try and navigate that final round if and when we get there.”
Ireland celebrate their Nations League play-off win over Belgium. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Fixture details will be confirmed by the end of June, but Round 1 is scheduled for 7-13 October, with Round 2 between 26 November-5 December.
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Ireland will play the second leg of both play-offs at home, after securing seeded status in a strong group campaign. Ireland have alternated their recent home fixtures between Tallaght Stadium, Aviva Stadium and Páirc Uí Chaoimh, with Denise O’Sullivan recently sharing her wish for a return to the home of Cork GAA, where they hold a 100% record.
“You don’t have to ask me twice about Cork, I absolutely love it down there, and I think the players do too,” Ward smiles.
“It’s not been confirmed where we’ll play. Of course, we would love to have one in Dublin and one in Cork. I think that would be the ultimate dream, but we’ll have to wait and see and let the powers that be look after that side of it.”
Asked if taking a potential final to Cork might give Ireland a slight edge given Poland and Belgium’s recent familiarly with Aviva Stadium, Ward replies:
“The beauty of it is, I think form will probably go out the window, previous games will go out the window. I think that’ll be a one-off, big play-off final. I think it’ll be a very different game, to maybe what we witnessed in both games at the Aviva.
“You know me, I’ll always try and get the one-percenters. We’ll certainly use some of that. But yeah, it will be a tough ask no matter where we play.”
Later in the call, however, Ward may have let slip on an imminent seventh appearance at Lansdowne Road. “If we can fill out the Aviva in that second round, if we get there, we’ll be happy,” she said in passing.
Ireland before their recent win over Netherlands at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
The English coach also shared an interesting reflection on Ireland’s progression from conversations with other managers and delegations before this morning’s draw.
“Lots of us were discussing, ‘Who don’t you want?’ and quite a lot of teams were saying, ‘We don’t want yourselves.’ That’s a credit to everybody, staff and players and the work that’s gone in.
“There was maybe some of the big teams underestimating us in this campaign and that gave us the added edge. But do I think there’s an element now of people understanding we’re a good side with and without the ball. I think there’ll be less underestimating, that’s for sure.”
For Ireland, the mindset must switch from underdogs to favourites for Kazakhstan. “That’s a privilege that comes with the performances that we put in. We’ve earned the right to flip that.” Ward tells The 42.
“I’m going to be honest I’ll be using that underdog fuel, we used it a lot, so why wouldn’t other nations that are coming up against us use it? We have to flip that and remind everybody that there’s no room for complacency.
“Not that you need to tell this group that, because they are massively focused, but I think the element of us being the underdog, we can flip that and say, ‘What does it look like now?’ This first round, I would say we’re not the underdog. Second, not so sure.”
The big question before she logs off: Are we going to the World Cup?
“You’ve asked me this loads in the last year, my answer doesn’t change!”
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'If you're going to get to a World Cup, you've got to beat the best' - Carla Ward on play-off draw
CARLA WARD’S IMMEDIATE reaction to Ireland’s 2027 World Cup play-off draw?
A semi-final against minnows Kazakhstan, before a tricky potential final against recent opponents Belgium or Poland.
“When you want to get to Brazil, it’s always going to be a difficult route,” says the Ireland boss over Zoom from Uefa HQ in Nyon.
“There’s a couple of bits in both rounds that will naturally cause us some difficulties. But look, I think we’ve been in tremendous form, and confidence is high. We have to keep believing that we can get there, and we’ll do everything we can to do that.”
Kazakhstan are the lowest-ranked team Ireland could have drawn, 79 places inferior in the Fifa Women’s World Rankings in 100th.
But in Ward’s own words, it’s “a logistical nightmare” with a direct charter flight from Dublin seven hours – up on 10 hours 30 minutes with a layover – and the time difference four hours.
And she agrees with the notion that the second round couldn’t be tougher.
In contrast, Belgium were the only higher-ranked opponents Ireland could be pitted against, placed 18th in the world. Ireland did extinguish the Red Flames in last October’s Nations League promotion/relegation play-off, but it took a last-gasp Abbie Larkin winner to prevail 5-4 on aggregate. (Ireland won 4-2 at Aviva Stadium, before a 2-1 defeat in Leuven).
The Girls In Green beat Poland (ranked 29th) twice in their qualifying group in April – 3-2 away, 1-0 at home – but, similarly, a rematch could prove challenging.
“I think everybody in the room would probably say that that was the one that everyone wanted to avoid. Belgium and Poland are top sides,” says Ward.
“But look, you know what, if you’re going to get to a World Cup, you’ve got to beat the best. We’re in a good position with the campaign we’ve had, so we’ll go into it with confidence.
“First of all, we’ve got to get past Kazakhstan. It’s not easy, it’s a logistical nightmare, some would say. It’s not going to be easy, but I think Kazakhstan, Poland and Belgium are all going to be difficult. We’ll do everything we can to get over that first hurdle, and then obviously try and navigate that final round if and when we get there.”
Fixture details will be confirmed by the end of June, but Round 1 is scheduled for 7-13 October, with Round 2 between 26 November-5 December.
Ireland will play the second leg of both play-offs at home, after securing seeded status in a strong group campaign. Ireland have alternated their recent home fixtures between Tallaght Stadium, Aviva Stadium and Páirc Uí Chaoimh, with Denise O’Sullivan recently sharing her wish for a return to the home of Cork GAA, where they hold a 100% record.
“You don’t have to ask me twice about Cork, I absolutely love it down there, and I think the players do too,” Ward smiles.
Asked if taking a potential final to Cork might give Ireland a slight edge given Poland and Belgium’s recent familiarly with Aviva Stadium, Ward replies:
“The beauty of it is, I think form will probably go out the window, previous games will go out the window. I think that’ll be a one-off, big play-off final. I think it’ll be a very different game, to maybe what we witnessed in both games at the Aviva.
“You know me, I’ll always try and get the one-percenters. We’ll certainly use some of that. But yeah, it will be a tough ask no matter where we play.”
Later in the call, however, Ward may have let slip on an imminent seventh appearance at Lansdowne Road. “If we can fill out the Aviva in that second round, if we get there, we’ll be happy,” she said in passing.
The English coach also shared an interesting reflection on Ireland’s progression from conversations with other managers and delegations before this morning’s draw.
“Lots of us were discussing, ‘Who don’t you want?’ and quite a lot of teams were saying, ‘We don’t want yourselves.’ That’s a credit to everybody, staff and players and the work that’s gone in.
“There was maybe some of the big teams underestimating us in this campaign and that gave us the added edge. But do I think there’s an element now of people understanding we’re a good side with and without the ball. I think there’ll be less underestimating, that’s for sure.”
For Ireland, the mindset must switch from underdogs to favourites for Kazakhstan. “That’s a privilege that comes with the performances that we put in. We’ve earned the right to flip that.” Ward tells The 42.
“Not that you need to tell this group that, because they are massively focused, but I think the element of us being the underdog, we can flip that and say, ‘What does it look like now?’ This first round, I would say we’re not the underdog. Second, not so sure.”
The big question before she logs off: Are we going to the World Cup?
“You’ve asked me this loads in the last year, my answer doesn’t change!”
*****
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