Ireland to face Belgium in Nations League play-off
The Republic of Ireland will play Belgium in their UEFA Women's Nations League promotion/relegation play-off.
Carla Ward's side will be at home in the first leg, with the ties to be played on 24 & 28 October.
Belgium are currently 20th in the FIFA world rankings, six places ahead of Ireland, and mixed the good and bad in their League A campaign. They defeated England but lost to bottom side Portugal.
On Tuesday, Ireland wrapped up their League B, Group 2 programme with a 1-0 win over Slovenia at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, a result that wasn't enough to seal an immediate promotion to League A.
They were guaranteed a play-off in advance of the game, with Ward now able to focus on the Belgians in the autumn.
"We now know our opponents for this play-off and our preparation for those two games starts now," she said.
"We know that Belgium are a very good team with a strong history in women's football, so this will be a difficult challenge for us but one that we are excited to take on.
"Having won five of our six group games in the Nations League and ended with a very good performance against Slovenia, we are building day by day, game by game. We have a fantastic team spirit, a brilliant support staff and a group of players who are ready to take that next step in their progression.
"Next up are two games against the United States, which will help as part of our preparation but the play-off is our next target. We want to reach League A to play against top-ranked teams and be in the best position possible going into the 2027 World Cup qualifiers next year."
Ireland have played Belgium six times – winning their first ever meeting in 1980 – and they last faced each other in an international friendly in April 2021 in Brussels.
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