Republic of Ireland will learn who they face in Women's Euro Qualifiers tomorrow

Eileen Gleeson will be in Nyon tomorrow to find out her side's fate in the Euro Qualifiers draw.

Mon, 04 Mar, 2024 - 13:26

John Fallon

High noon on Tuesday will bring high stakes for Ireland’s women when they share company with the established forces in the draw for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers.

Ireland are where they want to be in the top tier but to reach Switzerland in July 2025 there may be lessons administered on route.

In the same way inferior opponents were easily swatted away in last Autumn’s Nations League B – Ireland winning all six games on an aggregate score of 20-2 – so too the weight of mainstays lurks to arrest their ascent.

To illustrate, head coach Eileen Gleeson – who’s travelled to Nyon for her first draw – could be digesting for lunch a group shared with World champions Spain, Euro holders England and Olympic silver medalists Sweden.

Quality is abundant throughout the pots. That’s expected among the top 16 ranked teams in Europe and the fact England were demoted to the second quartet underlines the calibre of opposition.

Ireland, as one of the nations promoted from the linked Nations League series, sit in the fourth pot, thereby avoiding Finland, Poland and Czech Republic.

A glance above them doesn’t make for great reading either.

All the favourites – Iceland, Belgium, Norway and particularly the Swedes – emerged from last week’s playoffs to preserve their status in the highest rung.

In the face of that daunting landscape, there are reasons to be upbeat.

Of most importance is the guarantee of a playoff route to the Euros before a ball is kicked.

Gleeson’s predecessor Vera Pauw had a point when criticising the maiden Nations League concept as preferential to the major forces but it’s worked out in Ireland’s favour now they’ve progressed to be in their company.

The format is straightforward in the round-robin pool – somehow achieve a top-two finish and a ticket to Switzerland is theirs, otherwise they funnel into the playoffs in October and November, initially against a League C team.

Also to be welcomed is the certainty that qualifiers, some at least, will be staged at Aviva Stadium. It’s a stain on the FAI’s reputation that their women have graced that turf just once – for last September’s Nations League opener against Northern Ireland – but glamour names will attract flocks of fans in the region of the 30,000 mark they surpassed for that occasion.

As England boss Sarina Weigman noted last week, the 30-day turnaround between the draw and opening fixtures is a “shame”. Such a scenario of the men – who have an eight-month gap between the equivalent coordinates for this year’s Nations League campaign – is unfathomable and wouldn’t be tolerated.

Ireland will receive their six fixtures by Wednesday morning (dates below), a definite step-up in class from the Nations League and more in the vein of what they encountered at the World Cup.

Euro qualifiers League A pots for draw on Tuesday, March 5:

1: Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain.

2: England, Austria, Denmark, Italy.

3: Iceland, Belgium, Sweden, Norway.

4: Ireland, Finland, Poland, Czech Republic.

Nightmare draw: Spain, England, Sweden, IRELAND.

Doable draw: Germany, Italy, Belgium, IRELAND.

Women's EURO 2025 calendar:

Qualifying matchdays 1 & 2: April 3–9, 2024

Qualifying matchdays 3 & 4: May 29– June 4,2024

Qualifying matchdays 5 & 6: July 10–16, 2024.

Play-off draw: July 19, 2024.