Carrow Road to host England's Euro women's qualifier against Ireland

Ireland’s penultimate Women’s Euro qualifier against England will be staged at Norwich City’s Carrow Road on Friday, July 12. Photo credit: Rhianna Chadwick/PA Wire.

Ireland’s penultimate Women’s Euro qualifier against England will be staged at Norwich City’s Carrow Road on Friday, July 12.

Dublin’s Lansdowne Road was confirmed on Thursday to stage the reverse fixture on Tuesday, April 9 but hopes of the Irish descending on the 80,000-seater Wembley were soon dashed.

Carrow Road has a capacity of 27,137 and staged England’s scoreless draw against Spain in 2022. The nations met again in the World Cup final, which the Spanish prevailed in by a single goal.

Sarina Wiegman’s squad will welcome FIFA World Cup semi-finalists Sweden to Wembley on Friday 5 April – the same night Ireland are in Metz to meet France - followed by a first-ever trip to St. James’ Park, Newcastle in May.

Despite Tuesday’s draw in Nyon pitting Ireland against the nations ranked second, third and fourth in FIFA’s rankings, Ireland head coach Eileen Gleeson has her mind aiming to qualify for their first Euros in Switzerland directly by securing a top-two finish.

Winning last year’s Uefa Nations League B guarantees a playoff before a ball is kicked. Even if they finish bottom, they’ll meet a qualifier from League C in October with potentially a League B nation in late November, both two-leg affairs.