Poland v Republic of Ireland
Polsat Plus Arena, Gdańsk, Tuesday, 5pm (RTÉ Two)
Without any fanfare or hype, a crucial week in Carla Ward’s time as Republic of Ireland manager has arrived. It begins with a trip to Gdańsk and a return for Irish football to the Polsat Plus arena where the men’s side lost 4-0 to Spain at Euro 2012.
For Ward’s team, the venue offers an opportunity to put points on the board in Group A2 of World Cup qualifying after running out of steam at home to France and away to the Netherlands in March.
There was no shame in either result. Katie McCabe gave Ireland the lead against the French in Tallaght, but the visitors fought back to win 2-1. The skipper equalised from the penalty spot in Utrecht but Lineth Beerensteyn’s second goal secured all three points for the Dutch.
It proved a vital result for Arjan Veurink’s side after they were held to a 2-2 draw by Poland in Gdansk four days earlier.
Ward and her assistant coach Gary Cronin will have studied that game in detail. They would have noted Barcelona’s Ewa Pajor sprinting off the left to blast a finish past Dutch goalkeeper Lize Kop.
The Poles are by no means a one-woman team, as Paulina Tomasiak showed when calmly rounding Kop for a late equaliser.
But Pajor’s numbers are elite. The 29-year-old has a record 70 goals in 107 caps for her country and is even more prolific at club level – scoring 80 goals in 88 matches since joining Barca in the summer of 2024.
If Ireland remain bottom of the four-team group, it will strengthen an argument that suggests the team has been overly reliant on its ageing stars since the 2023 World Cup – namely McCabe and Liverpool midfielder Denise O’Sullivan. The recruitment of players not born in Ireland may also come under further analysis.
Poland’s upward curve is more pronounced since they qualified for Euro 2025. Strong interest in the women’s game was illustrated by the audience of two million who tuned in to watch last summer’s group match against Germany. They lost that game 2-0 and were then beaten 3-0 by Sweden, before salvaging pride at their first major tournament with a 3-2 win over Denmark.
And yet, as Ireland pushed a Netherlands side full of Champions League talent last month, Poland lost 4-1 to France in Dijon.
“We face a slightly different challenge than in our first matches, when we faced the Netherlands and France,” said Nina Patalon, the Poland manager. “Now we’ll be playing against a team that’s very well organised defensively, has some attacking strengths and has several players who can make a difference, like McCabe and O’Sullivan.”
Ireland training at Polsat Plus Arena, Gdansk, on Monday. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
Ireland training at Polsat Plus Arena, Gdansk, on Monday. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
It will be another hectic night for Irish defenders Caitlin Hayes, Anna Patten and Aoife Mannion, who were all outstanding when coping with the aerial threats of the French and the Dutch. More of the same can be expected from the Poles, who thrive off second balls in the box.
“I think they are arguably one of the most aggressive transition teams in Europe right now,” Ward told RTÉ. “They showed that both at the Euros and in their recent games. All over the park you can see what the manager has done with them and how they have developed collectively.
“We love to fight. We love the energy. They’re similar. So we’re going to have to absolutely match that.”
Ireland’s way forward is helped by Chloe Mustaki establishing herself at left centre-back, which has freed McCabe from some defensive duties while giving Emily Murphy more space to exploit on the counter-attack.
Injuries to Ruesha Littlejohn, Lily Agg and Jessie Stapleton put an increased reliance on O’Sullivan to shake off the knee issue that denied her a cap in Utrecht.
Really, it’s the same story. Ireland will look to McCabe and O’Sullivan for quality moments in Gdańsk before Poland visit the Aviva stadium on Saturday. A crowd of about 16,000 is expected through the turnstiles for the match in Dublin.
There is also the need to avoid relegation from League A, which is the fate in store for the bottom-placed team. Third place secures an easier route through the World Cup play-offs in October.
Qualification for Brazil 2027 remains the priority for Ireland and Ward, but Poland and Patalon hold the same aim. Anything less than four points from these two games will be considered a failure by everyone involved in this Irish group.
Ireland (possible): Brosnan; Mannion, Patten, Hayes, Mustaki, McCabe; Murphy, O’Sullivan, Connolly, Sheva; Carusa.