2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup: Australia Vs Republic Of Ireland Preview
Written by Oluwaseun Oyediji
Less than one week after Australia played in front of their largest-ever crowd (50,629) in a 1-0 home friendly win against France, an anticipated 80,000 spectators will pack into Sydney’s Olympic Stadium hoping that the Matildas can go on to convert their first home Women’s World Cup (WWC) into their first semi-finals appearance and maybe more.
Australia
Despite losing their opening group-stage game in their last three WWCs, the expectations placed on the co-hosts have never been greater.
Whether it be exiting the previous WWC at the round of 16, the 2022 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup at the quarter-finals, or failing to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Australia, ranked tenth by the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), have underachieved at recent major events.
The Matildas is in a rich vein of form with four wins out of its last games against Spain (3-1), Jamaica (3-0), England (2-0), France (1-0) ending England’s long stretch of unbeaten streak in the process.
Its solitary loss was a 1-0 defeat to Scotland in another friendly match.
Form
Some outstanding lead-in form consisting of nine wins from ten fixtures (a loss) since October 2022 (with an aggregate score of 26-5) should be read cautiously - though they have every reason to be confident as that run includes four wins from four games against higher-ranked opposition (France, England, Spain and Sweden)!
Player to watch
Australia’s Foord would have also been thoroughly deserving of the accolade though with 21 goal contributions (12 goals, 9 assists) across all competitions for the mighty Arsenal FC during the most recent campaign, while McCabe made 38 appearances for the north Londoners last term in all competitions, only to be outdone by Stina Blackstenius.
Chelsea's Sam Kerr is also expected to play pivotal role for the Matildas with her goals if the team is to go far at the tournament.
The Republic of Ireland
The Republic of Ireland have been one beneficiary of the WWC’s expansion from 24 to 32 nations, making their inaugural finals appearance courtesy of a qualification play-offs victory in Scotland last October.
They come into this event with their highest-ever FIFA ranking (22), but their hopes of achieving something substantial have been tempered by having two top-ten nations alongside them in Group B (Australia and Canada), as well as seeing a warm-up fixture against Colombia abandoned last week due to “overly physical” play by their opponents that left midfielder Denise O’Sullivan hospitalised.
Qualification was a phenomenal achievement for manager Vera Pauw following a series of seven straight losses across 2020 and 2021, which coincidentally came to an end with a surprise 3-2 win in their last meeting with Australia.
Approaching her first WWC finals almost 25 years after first becoming a national team manager with Scotland, Pauw has stressed the “need to be realistic” whilst also reasserting the importance of solid defending, which produced just 11 total goals (aggregate 7-4) across seven qualifiers when excluding 11-0 and 9-0 wins over minnows Georgia.
Form
World Cup debutants has been able to win just one of its last five games ahead of its first game at the tournament which was a 3-2 win over fellow debutant from Africa in Zambia.
Asides from that, Pauw's side has lost three friendly games against holders, United States Women's National Team twice 2-0 and 1-0 respectively after playing out a 0-0 draw with China.
Read Also - Women’s World Cup: Can New Zealand Move Out Of Group Stage For The First Time?
Players to watch
Arsenal teammates Caitlin Foord and Katie McCabe were both nominated as the club’s 2022/2023 Player of the Season, with Republic of Ireland captain McCabe picking up the award.
Hot streak
Australia’s last 12 matches have all produced a winner, with seven of the last eight seeing the victors win with a clean sheet.
Head-To-Head
The last time both sides met was in an international friendly match in September 2021 which surprisingly ended 3-2 in favour of the Republic of Ireland, a feat the World Cup debutant will hope to replicate in its opening Group B encounter.
Verdict
Expect the home crowd to spur Australia to a win over the Republic of Ireland.
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