AFTER OPENING WITH a pair of narrow 2-1 defeats to France and Netherlands, Ireland are looking to spark their 2027 World Cup dream in a crucial double-header against Poland.
When the draw was made back in November, these games will have been circled in the race for third place. (The group winners qualify automatically for Brazil 2027, with all other teams guaranteed a seeded playoff spot. Second- and third-place finishers secure a more favourable route.)
Poland were the lowest-ranked third seeds Ireland could have drawn, just one place above them in the Fifa world rankings at the time. They have since climbed three spots to 24th, but there appears to be little between the sides.
Spearheaded by Barcelona striker Ewa Pajor, Poland’s first major tournament was Euro 2025. While Ireland missed out having debuted at the 2023 World Cup, the Poles qualified by beating Austria in a play-off.
Nina Patalon’s side ultimately finished third in a difficult group, falling to Germany (2-0) and Sweden (3-0) before rounding out with an impressive 3-2 win over Denmark. Pajor, unsurprisingly, was among the goals, with Bayern Munich’s Natalia Padilla-Bidas and Martyna Wiankowska of FC Köln also on target.
Having secured automatic promotion to Nations League A, an autumn of friendlies followed: a 0-0 draw with Netherlands was an encouraging start before wins over Wales, Slovenia, and Latvia. Poland beat Ireland’s Euro 2025 play-off conquerors 5-2, and Slovenia 1-0. Having been stunned 4-0 by Slovenia in Ward’s second game in charge, Ireland won on the same scoreline at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
The Orlice — which translates as Eaglesses — again drew with Netherlands in their opening qualifier, 2-2 this time. Pajor fired them in front, before the Dutch hit back and domestic player, Paulina Tomasiak of Górnik Łęczna, bagged an 84th-minute equaliser.
They then lost 4-1 to France. Pajor did level matters at 1-1 but Nadia Krezyman’s dismissal due to a second yellow card when it was 2-1 just before half-time saw them unravel.
- Prolific Pajor -
Pajor is unquestionably one of the most prolific strikers in the world. Poland’s generational talent is their captain and record goalscorer, with 70 goals in 107 caps.
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The 29-year-old has played for Spanish giants Barcelona since 2024, having previously excelled for Wolfsburg with 136 goals in 196 appearances. She broke Barca’s single-season record for goals scored in her debut campaign, with 43 in 46 appearances across all competitions as they won a domestic treble – but she lost her fourth Champions League final to Katie McCabe’s Arsenal.
As per Barca’s records, Pajor has scored 80 goals in 87 games – with 28 in competitive matches so far this season.
Her star power was evident from early doors, when she helped Poland to historic U17 Euros success in 2013 and she was named Uefa U17 Player of the Year. She made her senior debut later that year, scoring and winning a penalty, and she became their record goalscorer in 2022.
While a clear standout name, Spanish-born Padilla-Bidas and AC Milan’s Ewelina Kamczyk are other attacking threats. West Ham’s Kinga Szemik is their first-choice goalkeeper, with PSG’s Paulina Dudek among the defenders as most of the squad play across Europe.
A transitional team, quite dependent on Pajor, midfield is regarded as their weakness, with depth another issue. But they have a shrewd manager in Patalon, a former underage international who saw her playing career ended by injury. Having cut her teeth with Polish clubs, she climbed the ranks with underage international teams and has been senior manager since 2021.
- Irish view -
Speaking at her squad announcement press conference last week, Ireland boss Carla Ward offered her thoughts on the Poles.
“I really like Poland. I liked them at the Euros. I think they’ve really progressed in the last few years and they’ve been one of the most progressive nations, in my opinion, with the ball. They’re very aggressive, very aggressive in transition.
“You’ve got [Ewa] Pajor who, again, scored a brace midweek against Real Madrid, she was outstanding. She’s going to be someone we have to stop, but they have quality everywhere.
“I think that it would be naive to think that this is going to be a given, we’re going to have to absolutely earn the right to go and play, and earn the right to win the game as well, that’s for sure.”
The widely-shared view is that Ireland need four points from this double-header to finish third. Poland’s opening draw against the Dutch gives them the upper hand before a ball is kicked: third place secures a play-off semi-final against League C opposition, whereas finishing fourth would bring higher-ranked League B teams into play.
“I’m ambitious, I want to compete against anyone and everyone in the world,” Ward added. “I tell the players that all the time, we have to have a belief we can get points from anybody. We have got four games left, we have to target points in all four.
“But, yes, of course Poland will be setting up at this similarly. They’ll look at us and think this is their moment to get points. We’re under no illusions that France and Netherlands are two of the best in the world, but Poland are a very good side, they’ll take some beating.”
- Gdańsk to Dublin -
The sides first lock horns at Gdańsk Stadium on Tuesday, a venue which holds disappointing memories for Irish fans from the 4-0 defeat to Spain at Euro 2012.
With a capacity of 41,620, it has been the Polish women’s team home stadium since August 2024. As per BBC, just 3,540 fans watched their impressive draw with Netherlands last month.
Aviva Stadium hosts the return tie, as Ireland grace Lansdowne Road for the first time since their Nations League play-off win over Belgium last October. It will be their sixth appearance at the Dublin 4 venue, having drawn a collective attendance of 131,546 since their debut there in September 2023.
A record attendance of 35,944 was set in that Saturday afternoon win over Northern Ireland, while a significantly smaller crowd of 14,108 turned out for the most recent Friday night encounter against Belgium.
Ward is calling for numbers to help them over the line. “It’s going to be really, really critical that we get everybody packing out the Aviva. It’s a Saturday three o’clock, everybody loves a Saturday three o’clock game.
“We had massive numbers for Belgium and we’re going to need that again and more. It will be critical we get bums on seats and bodies in the ground and get some noise lifting the players, because we’ll be ready. If we can get that fanbase hopefully together, we can get the results we need.”
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'Aggressive' Poland and the Barcelona star Ireland must stop to spark World Cup dream
AFTER OPENING WITH a pair of narrow 2-1 defeats to France and Netherlands, Ireland are looking to spark their 2027 World Cup dream in a crucial double-header against Poland.
When the draw was made back in November, these games will have been circled in the race for third place. (The group winners qualify automatically for Brazil 2027, with all other teams guaranteed a seeded playoff spot. Second- and third-place finishers secure a more favourable route.)
Poland were the lowest-ranked third seeds Ireland could have drawn, just one place above them in the Fifa world rankings at the time. They have since climbed three spots to 24th, but there appears to be little between the sides.
Spearheaded by Barcelona striker Ewa Pajor, Poland’s first major tournament was Euro 2025. While Ireland missed out having debuted at the 2023 World Cup, the Poles qualified by beating Austria in a play-off.
Nina Patalon’s side ultimately finished third in a difficult group, falling to Germany (2-0) and Sweden (3-0) before rounding out with an impressive 3-2 win over Denmark. Pajor, unsurprisingly, was among the goals, with Bayern Munich’s Natalia Padilla-Bidas and Martyna Wiankowska of FC Köln also on target.
Having secured automatic promotion to Nations League A, an autumn of friendlies followed: a 0-0 draw with Netherlands was an encouraging start before wins over Wales, Slovenia, and Latvia. Poland beat Ireland’s Euro 2025 play-off conquerors 5-2, and Slovenia 1-0. Having been stunned 4-0 by Slovenia in Ward’s second game in charge, Ireland won on the same scoreline at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
The Orlice — which translates as Eaglesses — again drew with Netherlands in their opening qualifier, 2-2 this time. Pajor fired them in front, before the Dutch hit back and domestic player, Paulina Tomasiak of Górnik Łęczna, bagged an 84th-minute equaliser.
They then lost 4-1 to France. Pajor did level matters at 1-1 but Nadia Krezyman’s dismissal due to a second yellow card when it was 2-1 just before half-time saw them unravel.
- Prolific Pajor -
Pajor is unquestionably one of the most prolific strikers in the world. Poland’s generational talent is their captain and record goalscorer, with 70 goals in 107 caps.
The 29-year-old has played for Spanish giants Barcelona since 2024, having previously excelled for Wolfsburg with 136 goals in 196 appearances. She broke Barca’s single-season record for goals scored in her debut campaign, with 43 in 46 appearances across all competitions as they won a domestic treble – but she lost her fourth Champions League final to Katie McCabe’s Arsenal.
As per Barca’s records, Pajor has scored 80 goals in 87 games – with 28 in competitive matches so far this season.
Her star power was evident from early doors, when she helped Poland to historic U17 Euros success in 2013 and she was named Uefa U17 Player of the Year. She made her senior debut later that year, scoring and winning a penalty, and she became their record goalscorer in 2022.
While a clear standout name, Spanish-born Padilla-Bidas and AC Milan’s Ewelina Kamczyk are other attacking threats. West Ham’s Kinga Szemik is their first-choice goalkeeper, with PSG’s Paulina Dudek among the defenders as most of the squad play across Europe.
A transitional team, quite dependent on Pajor, midfield is regarded as their weakness, with depth another issue. But they have a shrewd manager in Patalon, a former underage international who saw her playing career ended by injury. Having cut her teeth with Polish clubs, she climbed the ranks with underage international teams and has been senior manager since 2021.
- Irish view -
Speaking at her squad announcement press conference last week, Ireland boss Carla Ward offered her thoughts on the Poles.
“I really like Poland. I liked them at the Euros. I think they’ve really progressed in the last few years and they’ve been one of the most progressive nations, in my opinion, with the ball. They’re very aggressive, very aggressive in transition.
“You’ve got [Ewa] Pajor who, again, scored a brace midweek against Real Madrid, she was outstanding. She’s going to be someone we have to stop, but they have quality everywhere.
“I think that it would be naive to think that this is going to be a given, we’re going to have to absolutely earn the right to go and play, and earn the right to win the game as well, that’s for sure.”
The widely-shared view is that Ireland need four points from this double-header to finish third. Poland’s opening draw against the Dutch gives them the upper hand before a ball is kicked: third place secures a play-off semi-final against League C opposition, whereas finishing fourth would bring higher-ranked League B teams into play.
“I’m ambitious, I want to compete against anyone and everyone in the world,” Ward added. “I tell the players that all the time, we have to have a belief we can get points from anybody. We have got four games left, we have to target points in all four.
“But, yes, of course Poland will be setting up at this similarly. They’ll look at us and think this is their moment to get points. We’re under no illusions that France and Netherlands are two of the best in the world, but Poland are a very good side, they’ll take some beating.”
- Gdańsk to Dublin -
The sides first lock horns at Gdańsk Stadium on Tuesday, a venue which holds disappointing memories for Irish fans from the 4-0 defeat to Spain at Euro 2012.
With a capacity of 41,620, it has been the Polish women’s team home stadium since August 2024. As per BBC, just 3,540 fans watched their impressive draw with Netherlands last month.
Aviva Stadium hosts the return tie, as Ireland grace Lansdowne Road for the first time since their Nations League play-off win over Belgium last October. It will be their sixth appearance at the Dublin 4 venue, having drawn a collective attendance of 131,546 since their debut there in September 2023.
A record attendance of 35,944 was set in that Saturday afternoon win over Northern Ireland, while a significantly smaller crowd of 14,108 turned out for the most recent Friday night encounter against Belgium.
Ward is calling for numbers to help them over the line. “It’s going to be really, really critical that we get everybody packing out the Aviva. It’s a Saturday three o’clock, everybody loves a Saturday three o’clock game.
“We had massive numbers for Belgium and we’re going to need that again and more. It will be critical we get bums on seats and bodies in the ground and get some noise lifting the players, because we’ll be ready. If we can get that fanbase hopefully together, we can get the results we need.”
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