TUESDAY NIGHT WILL be a special one for Chloe Mustaki, as she puts on the Ireland jersey and prepares to face France for the first time at senior international level.
“My Dad is French, so I consider myself half-French,” she explains ahead of the blockbuster opening 2027 World Cup qualifier at Tallaght Stadium.
“It is my second home over there. My whole Dad’s side of family is French, I grew up in very much a multi-cultural family, but my heart lies with the Irish jersey and always has.”
The familial roots are outside Paris, where Mustaki lived for some time as a child before moving back to Ireland with her mother.
Holidays were often spent in France with her father Daniel, and a university Erasmus programme brought her to Bordeaux in her early twenties, where she also played for the football club.
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Mustaki grew up speaking the language, and went to a French school in Dublin until she was 14. “My first words were in French. My Dad spoke to me in French and my mum spoke to me in English, so for the first few years of my life, I was speaking Franglais is what they say.
“Even though my parents split up when I was only three years of age, it was important from my Dad’s perspective that I really keep up that part of my history and my heritage. He’s never allowed me to speak English to him. It’s just always been French.
“I love that part of my family and it’s really helped shape who I am today. I really see myself as partly French, but when it comes to Tuesday night, it’ll be 100% Irish.
“Unfortunately I’ll have nobody at the game, but my Dad will be watching on from Australia, he’s visiting my brother over there.”
Mustaki admits her French fluency has diminished slightly, but “hopefully I’ll be able to hear any chit-chat during the game and cop on quickly to anything they are trying to do”.
Will she utter a few words herself? “We’ll see how dirty it gets and how nasty it gets, but hopefully not!”
Ireland have played Les Bleues three times in the last three years – sensationally winning 3-1 at Pairc Ui Chaoimh – but Mustaki has only faced their might at underage level.
The 30-year-old has had a stop-start senior international career amidst injury woes and defensive competition, but enjoyed a breakthrough 2025.
“It’s a great opportunity,” says the versatile left-footer. “France are a great side and it’s a great chance to play against them.
“We take a lot of confidence in some of the results we had against big nations. We love that underdog mentality, it is part of our DNA, so we will lean on those experiences (of big results) and lean on the experience of being at a World Cup.
“We know we can compete at that level, just need to do it on a more consistent basis. Can we do it game after game after game? That is what we need to try to nail down.”
Mustaki has been doing so at Nottingham Forest in WSL 2, where she is playing week on week and joined by Irish loanees Jessie Stapleton and Leanne Kiernan.
“It has been great to have people comment on how great a season I am having but this has always been me, I have never been given a chance because I have had setback after setback. Hopefully I will continue to show what I can do, and I do think I have another level in my locker, I just need to stay fit.”
The Dubliner has had a remarkable journey to this point, having also beaten cancer in her teenage years. While focusing on professional football right now, she recently qualified as a health and life coach and in time, is hoping to use her medical and high-performance experiences to help others.
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One person on her mind right now is Lily Agg, her Ireland teammate who recently returned from an ACL injury and subsequent cancer diagnosis. Agg’s knee surgery led to her receiving a diagnosis of melanoma in situ last year. Having recently joined Durham on loan, the 32-year-old midfielder is closing in on her international return.
Mustaki recently spent time with Agg and her partner Harley Bennett — a former teammate at Bristol City — and is sending them the best.
“Lily has been through the wringer the last 12 months, bless her, so credit to her to get herself back in position she has now with her club with everything that has been going on. For someone who has gone through different kind of scares and an ACL over the past 12 months, she has been amazing and I am so proud of her and hopefully we will see her back here very soon.”
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'My Dad is French, so I consider myself half-French. It's my second home over there'
TUESDAY NIGHT WILL be a special one for Chloe Mustaki, as she puts on the Ireland jersey and prepares to face France for the first time at senior international level.
“My Dad is French, so I consider myself half-French,” she explains ahead of the blockbuster opening 2027 World Cup qualifier at Tallaght Stadium.
“It is my second home over there. My whole Dad’s side of family is French, I grew up in very much a multi-cultural family, but my heart lies with the Irish jersey and always has.”
The familial roots are outside Paris, where Mustaki lived for some time as a child before moving back to Ireland with her mother.
Holidays were often spent in France with her father Daniel, and a university Erasmus programme brought her to Bordeaux in her early twenties, where she also played for the football club.
Mustaki grew up speaking the language, and went to a French school in Dublin until she was 14. “My first words were in French. My Dad spoke to me in French and my mum spoke to me in English, so for the first few years of my life, I was speaking Franglais is what they say.
“Even though my parents split up when I was only three years of age, it was important from my Dad’s perspective that I really keep up that part of my history and my heritage. He’s never allowed me to speak English to him. It’s just always been French.
“I love that part of my family and it’s really helped shape who I am today. I really see myself as partly French, but when it comes to Tuesday night, it’ll be 100% Irish.
“Unfortunately I’ll have nobody at the game, but my Dad will be watching on from Australia, he’s visiting my brother over there.”
Mustaki admits her French fluency has diminished slightly, but “hopefully I’ll be able to hear any chit-chat during the game and cop on quickly to anything they are trying to do”.
Will she utter a few words herself? “We’ll see how dirty it gets and how nasty it gets, but hopefully not!”
Ireland have played Les Bleues three times in the last three years – sensationally winning 3-1 at Pairc Ui Chaoimh – but Mustaki has only faced their might at underage level.
The 30-year-old has had a stop-start senior international career amidst injury woes and defensive competition, but enjoyed a breakthrough 2025.
“It’s a great opportunity,” says the versatile left-footer. “France are a great side and it’s a great chance to play against them.
“We take a lot of confidence in some of the results we had against big nations. We love that underdog mentality, it is part of our DNA, so we will lean on those experiences (of big results) and lean on the experience of being at a World Cup.
“We know we can compete at that level, just need to do it on a more consistent basis. Can we do it game after game after game? That is what we need to try to nail down.”
Mustaki has been doing so at Nottingham Forest in WSL 2, where she is playing week on week and joined by Irish loanees Jessie Stapleton and Leanne Kiernan.
“It has been great to have people comment on how great a season I am having but this has always been me, I have never been given a chance because I have had setback after setback. Hopefully I will continue to show what I can do, and I do think I have another level in my locker, I just need to stay fit.”
The Dubliner has had a remarkable journey to this point, having also beaten cancer in her teenage years. While focusing on professional football right now, she recently qualified as a health and life coach and in time, is hoping to use her medical and high-performance experiences to help others.
One person on her mind right now is Lily Agg, her Ireland teammate who recently returned from an ACL injury and subsequent cancer diagnosis. Agg’s knee surgery led to her receiving a diagnosis of melanoma in situ last year. Having recently joined Durham on loan, the 32-year-old midfielder is closing in on her international return.
Mustaki recently spent time with Agg and her partner Harley Bennett — a former teammate at Bristol City — and is sending them the best.
“Lily has been through the wringer the last 12 months, bless her, so credit to her to get herself back in position she has now with her club with everything that has been going on. For someone who has gone through different kind of scares and an ACL over the past 12 months, she has been amazing and I am so proud of her and hopefully we will see her back here very soon.”
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