Ireland boss Carla Ward hails ‘unbelievable' display and pays tribute to retiring Louise Quinn after win over Slovenia
Ireland boss Carla Ward hailed her side's display as 'unbelievable' following their 1-0 victory over Slovenia at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, despite missing out on automatic promotion to League A after failing to win by a four-goal margin.
After becoming the first player to play both inter-county GAA and professional football at the Cork venue, Saoirse Noonan marked her big night with an expert header in the first-half but that proved to be Ireland's only goal as despite creating several chances in both halves, Ward's side lacked the cutting edge they needed to top the Nations League group.
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Carla Ward has described October's play-off against Belgium as a 'difficult challenge' - with the Girls in Green's path to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil set to be determined by the outcome of the two-legged tie. Ireland are bidding for a backdoor entry to League A, which would guarantee them a play-off regardless of how they do in the qualifiers. Failure to top their group in the recent Nations League campaign - which ended in a 1-0 win against Slovenia in Páirc Uí Chaoimh - has left Ward's side relying on promotion via the play-offs. The draw on Friday pitted Ireland against Belgium, currently 20th in the FIFA world rankings. Belgium finished third in their League A group, which also included Spain, England and Portugal. They demonstrated their threat by securing a 3-2 home win against England in April, just four days after losing 5-0 to the reigning European champions in Ashton Gate. Ward said: 'We now know our opponents for this play-off and our preparation for those two games starts now. '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 FIFA World Cup qualifiers next year.' Dates and venues for the two games will be confirmed in due course.
