Euro 2025 qualifiers: Gleeson's Ireland drawn with England, France and Sweden

The Republic of Ireland will be in League A following their success last term.

STEPPING UP; Republic of Ireland team, back row, from left, Katie McCabe, Diane Caldwell, Caitlin Hayes, Courtney Brosnan, Megan Connolly, Amber Barrett and Ruesha Littlejohn, with, front, from left, Leanne Kiernan, Jessica Ziu, Heather Payne and Jessie Stapleton pose before the international women's friendly match between Republic of Ireland and Wales. Pic: David Fitzgerald, Sportsfile

Tue, 05 Mar, 2024 - 12:41

Examiner Sport

Eileen Gleeson's Republic of Ireland have been drawn to face France, Sweden and holders England in League A of the Euro 2025 qualifiers.

It will be seen as an extremely tough draw, given the opposition all find themselves in the top five of the current FIFA world rankings.

Gleeson's squad will start their qualifying campaign in April before competing in further qualifiers in May/June and July.

The draw for the 2025 showpiece took place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland today, with Ireland - stationed in pot 4 - drawn to play the stiff opposition from pots 1, 2 and 3. The top two from each group will automatically qualify for the finals.

Ireland's Euro opponents - who are they?

Having secured promotion from Nations League Group B, Ireland were guaranteed a tough draw, but even a last-place finish in the four-strong group will seal them a play-off semi-final berth.

Gleeson, giving her reaction, said: "This is the hardest draw Ireland have ever been placed into. I saw that in the auditorium – the relief on the faces of some coaches.

"Everybody in the group is of the same opinion – I’ve just spoken with the England manager Sarina Wiegman – but England were hoping to avoid us as fourth seeds.

"Any of those teams can take points off each other so maybe there won’t be a runaway winner."

Ireland midfielder Denise O'Sullivan has insisted that this type of draw comes with the territory they have been trying to reach.

We wanted to be here, now we are. Let’s have it 🇮🇪💚 https://t.co/ONVgCUi6NV
— Denise O'Sullivan (@OSullivanDenise) March 5, 2024

Gleeson added: "There were cries of no from Poland when they thought it was them in group A3. Would we choose it? No but we’re here now. We have a saying in our group ‘be where you’re feet are’ and this is it.

"All of the games are exciting. We only have a certain amount of slots at the Aviva but I’m sure the stadium will be packed out whoever we played.

"There was always a chance of getting this draw and the development of women’s game across Europe is reflected of Sweden being in pot three.

“We won’t have a cavalier approach to the group stage, knowing we have the playoff because we’re not underestimating the other leagues. There’s quality teams in League B.

"We’re going into these matches trying to play. Previous results against Sweden are encouraging to draw on. We’ll be trying to qualify directly from the top two in this phase.

On the prospect of facing England at Lansdowne or Wembley, possibly both, similar to Katie McCabe last week, Ireland’s new permanent boss tamely tried to downplay the local rivalry.

“It’s another game. Yes, the girls will be familiar from playing against them.

“I’m keeping myself grounded. We haven’t played England since 1976 (sic) (1986) but I’m not trying to hype one game up over another.”

League A:

A1:

Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Finland.

A2:

Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Czechia.

A3:

France, England, Sweden, Republic of Ireland.

A4:

Germany, Austria, Iceland, Poland.

League B: