Ireland's World Cup hopefuls now play the waiting game

Confidence and form are not commodities to be treated lightly approaching World Cups. Irish teams across various sporting codes have learned as much

HEROES WELCOME: Republic of Ireland WNT internationals Claire O'Riordan and Amber Barrett during a visit to Scoil Bhríde Ranelagh in Dublin. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

By full-time, the tension in Tallaght Stadium early on Thursday evening had been sucked from the atmosphere like humidity after a rain storm and the Republic of Ireland players looked ahead to a weekend off and next week's World Cup squad announcement.

Another four days of training camp beckon when they reconvene before Vera Pauw shares who has, and hasn’t, made the cut for the final 23 but the friendly against Zambia was, really, the last big chance for those on the fringe to turn some heads.