Ireland 4-2 Belgium
Eoin Harrington reporting from the Aviva Stadium
On a night when Katie McCabe ran the show in Dublin, she reserved a special mention for returning Ireland teammate Jamie Finn after a horrific injury layoff.
McCabe was in electric form for Ireland on Friday night, as they put four past Belgium to take a 4-2 lead into the second leg of their Nations League promotion/relegation playoff.
Three of Ireland’s four goals came from the boot of McCabe, even if the second will ultimately go down as an own-goal off the Belgian ‘keeper Nicky Evrard.
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For her part, McCabe was not interested in fighting to keep the goal.
“Nah, I’m not worried about the hat-trick at all,” McCabe said.
“As long as it went in, that was the key for me. Her starting position was quite high, so I thought I would have a go, and I was delighted to see it in the back of the net, another goal in front.
“Maybe a hat-trick another time!”
If McCabe can put in more performances like that, the third Ireland hat-trick she was denied on Friday night will not be far down the line.
It was an emotional night for one Ireland star, with Jamie Finn making her first appearance for her country in nearly two years.
Finn was sidelined with an ACL injury in spring 2024, with her last appearance coming in Belfast in December 2023.
She returned to the pitch on Friday as a second-half substitute, and Katie McCabe gave her teammate a special shoutout in her post-match press conference.
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Katie McCabe gives special nod to Jamie Finn on international return
24 October 2025; Jamie Finn of Republic of Ireland, 17, and teammates after the UEFA Women’s Nations League A/B promotion/relegation play-off first leg match between Republic of Ireland and Belgium at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Katie McCabe was impassioned in the post-match huddle, on a night when she was back to her best in a green jersey.
However, it was the returning Jamie Finn that McCabe wanted to reserve a special mention for when asked about the mood in the huddle.
“I mentioned in the huddle a big shout-out to Jamie Finn as well, her first minutes back after being so long out with an ACL,” McCabe said.
McCabe pulled Finn into the centre of a huddle in a special post-match moment that will have meant a lot to the midfielder after so long on the sidelines.
Finn’s return to the pitch was a special moment on a special night for Ireland, and having her and Jess Ziu back in camp has been special for McCabe and her Ireland teammates.
“They both have had tremendous injuries, mentally and physically,” McCabe said.
I’ve had a lot of teammates go through it and it’s not easy.
All we can do is support them and I was delighted to se them back in the squad, young players with a passion for playing for Ireland. It’s nothing but good when we have girls like that back in the squad.
The passion on display in the huddle will be needed if Ireland are to see out the job in Leuven on Tuesday night, and McCabe was eager to ensure Ireland do not get too ahead of themselves.
I spoke to the girls in the huddle.
It’s a fantastic result but we have to be humble. We still have to go to Belgium and they are a fantastic team with a load of quality. It is going to be a difficult game for us on Tuesday night.
They will be disappointed, they will go away tonight and think they could have got more from the game. So we need to be ready and on it.
If McCabe is not too pushed about claiming the second Ireland goal, her manager may do it on her behalf.
McCabe was superb, putting in a performance that manager Carla Ward described as her best for Ireland in some time.
“She was outstanding,” Ward said in her post-match press conference.
“I don’t think she’ll take it as an own goal, I think we’re calling that a hat-trick, aren’t we?
That was a proper captain’s performance. She led from the very first minute, all the way through, and I thought she was outstanding. I think that’s probably Katie’s best performance in a very long time, and that’s a credit to her.
A firing fit and in-form Katie McCabe can only be a massive positive for Ireland.
The second leg in Leuven is on Tuesday night, as Ireland look to secure League A status and a massive boost to their hopes of reaching the 2027 World Cup.
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