McCabe magic puts Ireland on bring of top-tier World Cup path

In effect, if Belgium overturn the margin tomorrow to prevail, Ireland’s path will be more arduous. They would have to do what they failed this year – top of their League B group – to attain the same seeding status as if they finished bottom of League A.

Mon, 27 Oct, 2025 - 06:01

John Fallon

What’s the significance of Ireland beating Belgium in the Women’s Nations League playoff?

Katie McCabe’s masterclass on Friday gives Ireland a 4-2 advantage heading into Tuesday’s second leg in Leuven.

Were Ireland to cave on McCabe’s 100th cap, their World Cup qualification prospects won’t crumble but likely diminish.

Here’s why.

Uefa have linked their qualification phase for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil to their Nations League series.

Essentially, they’ve replicated the men’s competition by eliminating friendlies to be replaced by UNL fixtures.

Every effort is made to bolster this new competition, which began for women in late 2023, leading to this connection.

Irish fans are used to playoffs deciding qualification; Hampden Park in 2022 booking a ticket to Australia contrasted with Lansdowne Road in 2024 missing out to Wales for Euros spot.

This isn’t the case on Tuesday. Victory earns Ireland entry into League A of the WC qualifiers, the draw for which takes place on November 4.

While Ireland will be up against the top-tier nations – such as England, France and Sweden they were in 2024 – they’ll tackle those tasks in the knowledge of a playoff parachute awaiting at the end. Ireland could finish on zero points and that won’t change.

Brazil’s World Cup is still 32 teams, not matching the men’s 48-nation expansion until 2031, meaning only 11 are guaranteed to emerge from Uefa.

Only four qualify automatically and they can only come from League A. The other 32 nations must navigate the playoffs, through two paths.

Avoiding those flames on Tuesday does matter.

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