Georgia, Wales and Slovakia stand in Ireland's way to Euros spot
PLAY OFF DRAW: Republic of Ireland have drawn Georgia in their Euro 2025 play-off semi-final. Picture: Kristian Skeie/UEFA via Sportsfile
Ireland’s path to a first-ever European Championship next year has been mapped out following Friday’s noon draw at Uefa headquarters in Nyon.
Despite finishing bottom of their tier A group, Ireland were already guaranteed this playoff route before a ball was kicked owing to winning last year’s Nations League group.
Furthermore, by avoiding bottom place across the 16 top nations, they were seeded in today’s draw conducted by Sandy Maendly, recently retired captain of Switzerland, hosts of the draw and next year’s finals.
There was also good news delivered beforehand by Irishman David Gough, Uefa’s competitions manager for women’s football, when confirming seeded teams would enjoy home advantage in both the semis and finals, otherwise known as path one and two.
First up for Ireland is a reunion with Georgia, ranked 119 in the world. Ireland will be highly fancied to advance from the tie, contested between October 2329, having racked up 9-0 and 11-0 victories during their trail to the World Cup last year.
Georgia squeezed into the playoffs as one of three best second-placed teams in League C. They recorded three wins from their six pool matches, finishing eight points behind Belarus, whom they lost to 2-0 and 3-0.
Should, as expected, that hurdle be navigated, facing Ireland for a place at the finals will be the victor of the semi-final clash between Slovakia and Wales.
Wales topped their League B group. They beat Croatia and Kosovo home and away but were held to a couple of draws by Ukraine. Canadia Rhian Wilkinson took charge of the team on the day they met Ireland.
Compared to Wales, ranked 31 in Fifa’s standings, Slovakia are at a lowly 50. Their decline continued in the Euro qualifiers, winning just their opener of six qualifiers and finishing on a paltry four points. They lost four matches in a row before finishing with a draw against basement side Israel.
Scotland, another opponent Ireland could have been reacquainted here, topped that group, with Serbia joining them in the playoffs as runner-up.
Ireland has recent and contrasting history with both.
Like Georgia, Slovakia were part of Ireland’s World Cup qualification group and were worthy of their 1-1 draw in Tallaght. However, Denise O’Sullivan’s solitary goal in the return match in Senec cemented a seeded spot in the ultimately successful playoff against Scotland.
Wales would represent tricky opponents for Eileen Gleeson’s side. They came to Tallaght in February, recording a comfortable 2-0 win thanks to first-half goals from Jess Fishlock and Lily Woodham.
“We now know our opponent for the Round 1 of the Qualifying Play-Off and we are looking forward to continuing on this journey in attempting to qualify for our first ever European Championships" said Gleeson after the draw.
“Having completed a difficult Group stage, where we played three of the top six teams in the world, we have learned a lot and will be stronger for it. The target for us since last year, when we started with the UEFA Nations League, was always to qualify for EURO 2025; this is the next part of that.
“We will take confidence from our win over France in Cork but also from each of our six performances in the Group stage. It is important that we improve with each game if we are to compete at the top level of women’s football. And we will be ready for these Play-Offs.
“We need to be respectful of Georgia as they will have their own ambitions to qualify, so we won’t look past round one,” said Gleeson.
“The work to prepare for this two-legged tie has already begun in advance of the games in October and we will ensure that we provide the players with everything that they require to maximise their performance in both games.
“We also look forward to playing in front of our home fans again. The atmosphere created in the France game was amazing and we appreciate everyone who has come out to cheer on the team in Tallaght Stadium, Aviva Stadium and Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
“It makes it so special to have such passionate fans so we want to give them more big games to be part of.”
Ireland have no official friendlies planned due to the absence of windows in a calendar condensed due to the upcoming Olympics in Paris.
Already qualified for the finals through the regulation qualifiers were holders England and France from Ireland’s group, along with Germany, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Iceland and Spain. They will join hosts Switzerland and the seven qualifiers from the playoffs in the December 16 draw in Lausanne.
Ireland v Georgia
Slovakia or Cymru v Ireland or Georgia
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