For the ground beneath Ireland\u2019s feet is steady and firm. Last Friday\u2019s rollicking, rain-drenched victory over the Netherlands means Ireland are guaranteed a favourable playoff route to next year\u2019s World Cup in Brazil. Against France, Ireland have, in Ward\u2019s own words, \u201cnothing to lose and everything to gain\u201d.<\/p>\n
The potential gain is outlandish. Beat France and Ireland will top their League A group and become one of just four European sides to qualify directly for the World Cup. A draw or defeat means Ireland will go to the playoffs, but no outcome will alter the fact that they have secured the most favourable repechage path possible.<\/p>\n
First up will be a two-legged semi-final against a minnow from League C of the Nations League, and should they navigate that, they will play a two-legged final against a side that finished no higher than at the foot of a League A group.<\/p>\n
Considering Ireland started out as a League B side under Ward and were drawn into this qualifying group as its bottom seeds, you can understand why the Ireland manager grinned on Monday that her side beating France would be \u201cone of the biggest stories in the world of football\u201d.<\/p>\n
Regardless of what the world would think of the prospect \u2013 the total absence of coverage given to this game in Monday\u2019s 36-page L\u2019Equipe suggests the general focus is more firmly fixed on the men\u2019s jamboree about to kick off across the Atlantic \u2013 the only counterpart in an Irish context for victory would be Jack Charlton\u2019s side squeezing into USA \u201894 ahead of then European champions, Denmark.<\/p>\n
France have yet to win a major women\u2019s tournament but they are studded with global stars, including Sandy Baltimore of Chelsea, Marie-Antoinette Katoto of Champions League finalists Lyon, and Manchester United forward Melvine Malard, who scored both goals in France\u2019s narrow 2-1 win at Tallaght Stadium at the very start of this campaign.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/XHPYPDF2DJOJXP3NKXS2JZQRMM.jpg\")
The France squad training at Stade des Alpes ahead of Tuesday’s qualifier in Grenoble. Photograph: Ben Brady\/Inpho <\/p>\n
Coach Laurent Bonadei has been in charge since 2024 and is not a man to be blinded by idols: he ended the international careers of French legends Wendie Renard and Eug\u00e9nie Le Sommer ahead of last year\u2019s Euros and has continued to flood his squad with youth, this time calling up the twin talents of Maeline Mendy and Lucie Calba. France are notably depleted, however, with Lyon attacker Kadidiatou Diani absent through injury.<\/p>\n
Ireland are happily at full strength, save the suspended Leanne Kiernan, meaning Denise O\u2019Sullivan and Emily Murphy return having served their own bans for the improbable win over the Dutch.<\/p>\n
That game was the latest proof that Ward has achieved a remarkable thing: she is an Irish manager capable of meeting fans\u2019 demands for a more attacking style of play. Irish football history is littered with national team coaches who either foundered on their own ambition or were deposed for refusing to sop to the ambitious demands of others.<\/p>\n
Ward, however, has Ireland playing in her own image, and they bristle with her own direct, irreverent energy. While she has retained the now characteristic Irish formation of a back three, Ward has infused it with vim and aggression.<\/p>\n
Centre backs Caitlin Hayes and Anna Patten are comfortable with stepping up and winning the ball to put Ireland on the front foot, with all of Emily Murphy, Kyra Carusa, Abbie Larkin, and Amber Barrett offering a potent threat behind opposition defences.<\/p>\n
Murphy has been a revelation in this campaign, so she will likely come straight back into the team against France, which would mean Ward\u2019s biggest conundrum is whether to omit Carusa or Larkin. She may decide Larkin\u2019s pace is best sprung from the bench against tiring French bodies.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Marissa Sheva \u2013 scapegoated for conceding a penalty in the 2023 World Cup loss to Australia \u2013 has been brilliantly reintegrated to the Irish midfield by Ward, suffusing the Irish team with further vibrancy. All of this has served to somewhat mitigate Ireland\u2019s reliance on O\u2019Sullivan and Katie McCabe.<\/p>\n
That said, Ireland will need both to reach their rarefied respective heights if they are to give this quixotic qualifying campaign an astonishing end.<\/p>\n
Probable starting teams<\/p>\n
France: Picaud; Sombath, Samoura, Lakrar, Bacha; Geyoro, Jean-Francois, Karchaoui; Baltimore, Malard, Cascarino.<\/p>\n
Ireland: Brosnan; Mannion, Patten, Hayes, Mustaki, McCabe; Connolly, Sheva, O\u2019Sullivan; Murphy, Carusa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"World Cup qualifier: France v Republic of Ireland, Stade des Alpes, Grenoble, Tuesday, 8pm Irish time \u2013 Live…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[18999,61,60,43,18998],"class_list":["post-489425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-carla-ward","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-republic-of-ireland-wnt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}