WE’RE FAMILIAR WITH England’s Lionesses and the Matildas of Australia. Belgium’s ‘Red Flames’ nickname is quite fitting as the heat intensifies for Ireland after a somewhat subdued year to date.
Ireland missed out on the big show, Euro 2025, and the Nations League group campaign was a mixed bag amidst a period of transition and retirements under new manager Carla Ward. A 4-0 drubbing away to Slovenia haunted Ireland as they missed out on top spot, and with it, automatic promotion to League A.
A two-legged playoff now awaits against Belgium, opening at Aviva Stadium this evening before the return tie in Leuven next Tuesday. It’s campaign-defining, the crescendo of somewhat of a lull year ahead of 2027 World Cup qualifying. Promotion here would guarantee a playoff on the road to Brazil.
With outfield noise often drowning out the football, it is firmly in focus now.
Belgium are unquestionable favourites. They played at their third successive Euros during the summer, but failed to progress from their group (unlike in 2022). Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir’s side finished third, behind Spain and Italy and ahead of Portugal.
Their only win of the tournament came against Portugal, a dramatic 2-1 victory in their final game having been burned by by dark horses Italy (1-0) and finalists Spain (6-2) prior to that. That Spain game was a rollercoaster, the underdogs drawing level twice to make it 2-2 in the 51st minute before Spain exerted their dominance.
Unlike Ireland, Belgium are yet to qualify for the World Cup. Seven places separate the sides in the world rankings (Belgium in 20th versus Ireland in 27th), and the most recent of their six meetings was a 2021 international friendly when Belgium won 1-0 in Brussels. Ireland have beaten them only once, by the minimum at Dalymount Park in October 1980.
In Nations League A, Belgium shared a group with two of their Euros opponents, Spain and Portugal, as well as England, finishing third after two wins and four losses.
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World champions Spain eventually won their opener 3-2, having trailed 2-1 late on. Belgium were then beaten 1-0 by now-relegated Portugal as Gunnarsdóttir, like Ward, settled into her new role.
The second window brought a double-header against England: a heavy 5-0 away defeat, followed by a surprising 3-2 win at home. They rounded out an inconsistent campaign with a 5-1 reversal to Spain, and a 3-0 win over Portugal.
“They caused Spain a lot of problems,” Ward assessed this week, having watched Belgium at the Euros.
Ward at Ireland training this week. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
“They’ve got the ability to be very, very, very good. But they’ve got flaws in their system. I think they were one of the best teams on transition, offensive transitions. But then I think they were one of the teams that can be exploited in defensive transitions.
“We have to be aware because they’ve got a lot of quality. But I also think that they’ll probably be saying something similar about us. There’s areas that we feel we can really hurt them and exploit them.
“We won’t be looking to just park the bus, so to speak.”
Ireland will be without number one goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan through injury, with Grace Moloney expected to deputise. (Belgium are also missing first choice Lisa Litchfus, who played every minute at the Euros.)
Ward has preferred a back four through her tenure, but reverted to three/five for the June friendlies against USA. Her mainstay centre-back Anna Patten is suspended for the first leg, with Caitlin Hayes, Jessie Stapleton, Hayley Nolan and Aoife Mannion among the options. Mannion has been deployed wide right recently, but Heather Payne and Jamie Finn are back, while Katie McCabe is nailed on to win her 99th cap on the left.
Denise O’Sullivan returns from injury to boost a “light” midfield, and is lacking minutes, in Ward’s own words, “but what we have got in there is an experience and a mentality”; Ruesha Littlejohn immediately springs to mind. Jess Ziu, like Finn, is returning from a long-term layoff but a start is unlikely. Marissa Sheva, Tyler Toland or Lucy Quinn could feature.
Up top, Kyra Carusa has been out of favour at club level, though has been another mainstay. Saoirse Noonan and Amber Barrett will feel they have done enough to usurp her.
In games expected to be transitional, speed will be key: Ireland aren’t overly blessed with that attribute, but Abbie Larkin and Emily Murphy can threaten out wide and in behind. Athlone Town star Kelly Brady has pace to burn, but the training player has been released.
The manager wants “a Carla Ward team on the ball and an Irish mentality off the ball”, as she said after the Nations League group campaign.
“We have to set a mentality and a mindset of belief and confidence,” Ward added this week.
“If you have a look at the data from when I took over to now, we’ve had more of the ball. We’ve won more duels. We’ve created more. We’ve had more progressive passes. We’ve increased in every single statistic bar one, which is aerial duels. But it’s probably because we get the ball down and play a little bit more.
“How we can we be brave, how we can be progressive? I think that’s going to be really important. Anyone that knows me, I struggle to sit back and just bank up. We have to get on the front foot because we want to win the game.”
Belgium, meanwhile, generally played 5-4-1 at the Euros, pressing from midfield and finding joy on the counter.
“We have to nullify Tessa Wullaert,” Ward insisted, circling their main threat.
“She’s an exceptional talent. She’s a seasoned pro. I think that for Belgium to tick, she needs to be ticking. We’ll try and slow her down a little bit.”
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The captain and record goalscorer leads from the front. Playing her club football with Inter Milan, Wullaert is indeed the top scorer in Women’s Nations League history with 12 in two campaigns, 93 in 146 appearances overall.
Set-pieces are another strength, with Wullaert often on duty and 6ft midfielder Justine Vanhaevermaet generally the target. Towering Shamrock Rovers defender Maria Reynolds trained as the Crystal Palace player this week.
Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Jarne Teulings and 18-year-old Aurélie Reynders of Leuven are other players to look out for in a side not to dissimilar to Ireland.
While the Aviva might not be a complete cauldron, with ticket sales slow, the heat intensifies as Ireland look to stoke the Red Flames and spark 2025 to life.
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Ireland out to stoke Red Flames in Nations League playoff
WE’RE FAMILIAR WITH England’s Lionesses and the Matildas of Australia. Belgium’s ‘Red Flames’ nickname is quite fitting as the heat intensifies for Ireland after a somewhat subdued year to date.
Ireland missed out on the big show, Euro 2025, and the Nations League group campaign was a mixed bag amidst a period of transition and retirements under new manager Carla Ward. A 4-0 drubbing away to Slovenia haunted Ireland as they missed out on top spot, and with it, automatic promotion to League A.
A two-legged playoff now awaits against Belgium, opening at Aviva Stadium this evening before the return tie in Leuven next Tuesday. It’s campaign-defining, the crescendo of somewhat of a lull year ahead of 2027 World Cup qualifying. Promotion here would guarantee a playoff on the road to Brazil.
With outfield noise often drowning out the football, it is firmly in focus now.
Belgium are unquestionable favourites. They played at their third successive Euros during the summer, but failed to progress from their group (unlike in 2022). Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir’s side finished third, behind Spain and Italy and ahead of Portugal.
Their only win of the tournament came against Portugal, a dramatic 2-1 victory in their final game having been burned by by dark horses Italy (1-0) and finalists Spain (6-2) prior to that. That Spain game was a rollercoaster, the underdogs drawing level twice to make it 2-2 in the 51st minute before Spain exerted their dominance.
Unlike Ireland, Belgium are yet to qualify for the World Cup. Seven places separate the sides in the world rankings (Belgium in 20th versus Ireland in 27th), and the most recent of their six meetings was a 2021 international friendly when Belgium won 1-0 in Brussels. Ireland have beaten them only once, by the minimum at Dalymount Park in October 1980.
In Nations League A, Belgium shared a group with two of their Euros opponents, Spain and Portugal, as well as England, finishing third after two wins and four losses.
World champions Spain eventually won their opener 3-2, having trailed 2-1 late on. Belgium were then beaten 1-0 by now-relegated Portugal as Gunnarsdóttir, like Ward, settled into her new role.
The second window brought a double-header against England: a heavy 5-0 away defeat, followed by a surprising 3-2 win at home. They rounded out an inconsistent campaign with a 5-1 reversal to Spain, and a 3-0 win over Portugal.
“They caused Spain a lot of problems,” Ward assessed this week, having watched Belgium at the Euros.
“They’ve got the ability to be very, very, very good. But they’ve got flaws in their system. I think they were one of the best teams on transition, offensive transitions. But then I think they were one of the teams that can be exploited in defensive transitions.
“We have to be aware because they’ve got a lot of quality. But I also think that they’ll probably be saying something similar about us. There’s areas that we feel we can really hurt them and exploit them.
“We won’t be looking to just park the bus, so to speak.”
Ireland will be without number one goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan through injury, with Grace Moloney expected to deputise. (Belgium are also missing first choice Lisa Litchfus, who played every minute at the Euros.)
Ward has preferred a back four through her tenure, but reverted to three/five for the June friendlies against USA. Her mainstay centre-back Anna Patten is suspended for the first leg, with Caitlin Hayes, Jessie Stapleton, Hayley Nolan and Aoife Mannion among the options. Mannion has been deployed wide right recently, but Heather Payne and Jamie Finn are back, while Katie McCabe is nailed on to win her 99th cap on the left.
Denise O’Sullivan returns from injury to boost a “light” midfield, and is lacking minutes, in Ward’s own words, “but what we have got in there is an experience and a mentality”; Ruesha Littlejohn immediately springs to mind. Jess Ziu, like Finn, is returning from a long-term layoff but a start is unlikely. Marissa Sheva, Tyler Toland or Lucy Quinn could feature.
Up top, Kyra Carusa has been out of favour at club level, though has been another mainstay. Saoirse Noonan and Amber Barrett will feel they have done enough to usurp her.
In games expected to be transitional, speed will be key: Ireland aren’t overly blessed with that attribute, but Abbie Larkin and Emily Murphy can threaten out wide and in behind. Athlone Town star Kelly Brady has pace to burn, but the training player has been released.
The manager wants “a Carla Ward team on the ball and an Irish mentality off the ball”, as she said after the Nations League group campaign.
“We have to set a mentality and a mindset of belief and confidence,” Ward added this week.
“If you have a look at the data from when I took over to now, we’ve had more of the ball. We’ve won more duels. We’ve created more. We’ve had more progressive passes. We’ve increased in every single statistic bar one, which is aerial duels. But it’s probably because we get the ball down and play a little bit more.
“How we can we be brave, how we can be progressive? I think that’s going to be really important. Anyone that knows me, I struggle to sit back and just bank up. We have to get on the front foot because we want to win the game.”
Belgium, meanwhile, generally played 5-4-1 at the Euros, pressing from midfield and finding joy on the counter.
“We have to nullify Tessa Wullaert,” Ward insisted, circling their main threat.
“She’s an exceptional talent. She’s a seasoned pro. I think that for Belgium to tick, she needs to be ticking. We’ll try and slow her down a little bit.”
The captain and record goalscorer leads from the front. Playing her club football with Inter Milan, Wullaert is indeed the top scorer in Women’s Nations League history with 12 in two campaigns, 93 in 146 appearances overall.
Set-pieces are another strength, with Wullaert often on duty and 6ft midfielder Justine Vanhaevermaet generally the target. Towering Shamrock Rovers defender Maria Reynolds trained as the Crystal Palace player this week.
Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Jarne Teulings and 18-year-old Aurélie Reynders of Leuven are other players to look out for in a side not to dissimilar to Ireland.
While the Aviva might not be a complete cauldron, with ticket sales slow, the heat intensifies as Ireland look to stoke the Red Flames and spark 2025 to life.
Live – Ireland v Belgium, 7pm, RTÉ2
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