{"id":577269,"date":"2026-07-31T14:35:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T14:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/577269\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T14:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T14:35:12","slug":"womens-football-finals-all-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/577269\/","title":{"rendered":"Women’s football finals: All you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

SUNDAY 2 AUGUST<\/p>\n

All-Ireland JFC final
Antrim v Carlow; Croke Park, 11.45am<\/p>\n

All-Ireland IFC final
Fermanagh v Roscommon; Croke Park, 1.45pm<\/p>\n

All-Ireland SFC final
Galway v Kerry; Croke Park, 4.15pm<\/p>\n

ONLINE
Live scores updates and match reports on RT\u00c9 News App and on rte.ie\/sport<\/p>\n

TV
All three All-Ireland finals will be live on TG4.<\/p>\n

WEATHER
A cloudy day in Croke Park is expected for Sunday’s triple-header. Temperatures will be a more manageable 17-19C, with only an occasional passing shower expected. For more see Met.ie.<\/p>\n

This Sunday sees the inter-county LGFA season draw to a close with its signature triple-header of finals at Croke Park, with the All-Ireland Junior, Intermediate and Senior champions set to be crowned.<\/p>\n

Antrim and Carlow form a novel pairing in the opener, with Fermanagh and Roscommon going head to head in the grade above – intermediate – right after.<\/p>\n

Then at 4:15pm we have the big one as Kerry and Galway face off to see who can call themselves senior champions for 2026.<\/p>\n

\"29
\nThree time winners Antrim face first time finalists Carlow in the Junior decider<\/p>\n

TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship final<\/p>\n

Antrim v Carlow; Croke Park, 11.45am<\/p>\n

Redemption for Antrim or glory for first-time finalists Carlow?<\/p>\n

Antrim are carrying the hurt of defeat to Louth on the big day last year and that will act as a powerful motivator. For Carlow, there’s no previous baggage and they\u2019ve finally managed to qualify for an All-Ireland final at Croke Park, this after a series of semi-final near misses in recent times.<\/p>\n

The Ulster side have appeared at this stage previously in 2009, 2012, 2016, 2012, 2022 and 2025. They\u2019ve lifted the West County Hotel on three occasions \u2013 2009, 2012 and 2022 \u2013 and they\u2019ll look to tap into past experience to get themselves over the line.<\/p>\n

After losing the 2021 final to Wicklow, Antrim were back a year later to get their hands on the silverware. Following a draw with Fermanagh at Croke Park, the Saffrons got the job done in a replay at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds in Armagh.<\/p>\n

The Saffrons built on that and went on to contest an intermediate semi-final in 2023. They suffered relegation in 2024, however, before going close to promotion again last year. Now, they find themselves just 60 minutes away from being crowned intermediate champions again, with Carlow also looking to move up a Championship grade.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s battle for the silverware on offer \u2013 and promotion to boot \u2013 will ensure that finals day gets off to a storming start. This promises to be a cracking game between two teams with plenty of scoring threat and solid defensive ability.<\/p>\n

Both of Sunday\u2019s finalists enjoyed impressive wins at the penultimate stage, with Antrim\u2019s Maria O\u2019Neill scoring 3-05 in the victory over Sligo, while Carlow scored three goals in a two-minute spell en route to victory over Derry.<\/p>\n

\"29
\nThere’s a novel intermediate pairing between Fermanagh and Roscommon<\/p>\n

TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate Championship final<\/p>\n

Fermanagh v Roscommon; Croke Park, 1.45pm<\/p>\n

Roscommon are unchanged ahead of this decider as Fermanagh opt for two switches as Sinead Barrett and Bronagh Smyth come into the starting line-up, in place of Caitriona Breen and Caoimhe Gallagher.<\/p>\n

This is a novel final pairing in this grade, as the Ernesiders, runners-up in 2014 and 2009, take on 2005 champions Roscommon.<\/p>\n

The Ulster outfit are back at Croke Park again for the second time in three years, and they’ll be aiming for more silverware after landing the junior title two years ago.<\/p>\n

For Roscommon’s ladies, this is a first visit to GAA HQ since claiming junior honours in 2001 over Kildare, as the 2005 decider against Down was played at St Loman’s in Mullingar.<\/p>\n

In their respective semi-finals, many would have viewed Sunday\u2019s finalists as underdogs, but they came through in style – Roscommon overcoming Westmeath, while Fermanagh emerged past the challenge of Down.<\/p>\n

So, will it be Fermanagh captain Shannan McQuade or her Roscommon counterpart, goalkeeper Helena Cummins, who lifts the Mary Quinn Memorial Cup at full-time?<\/p>\n

\"Kerry
\nThe senior clash between Galway and Kerry promises to be an epic affair<\/p>\n

TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship final<\/p>\n

Galway v Kerry; Croke Park, 4.15pm<\/p>\n

Changes are at a minimum for the senior final with former captains Louise Ward (Galway) and Anna Galvin (Kerry) named to start, with Ellen Power and Mikala Mulvihill dropping out respectively.<\/p>\n

For the second time in three seasons, Galway and Kerry will face off.<\/p>\n

Back in 2024, the Kingdom came out on top to win the title for the first time since 1993, which ended a run of successive final defeats.<\/p>\n

Galway will hope that their time has now come, as they aim to avenge that 2024 final reverse and claim the title for the first time since the Tribeswomen\u2019s one and only success in 2004. Galway have lost three finals since that famous day \u2013 2005, 2019 and 2024 \u2013 but have shown really impressive form en route to Sunday\u2019s final.<\/p>\n

Kerry, similarly, have produced some excellent displays and both sides excelled in their respective semi-finals.<\/p>\n

Galway cruised past the challenge of Armagh at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park in Longford, as Kerry ended the reign of 2025 winners Dublin with an emphatic display at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles. Those were psychologically important victories for both counties who had both fallen at the semi-final stage last year.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one previous competitive meeting between the sides this year, and that occurred back in March when they clashed in Division 1 of the Lidl National League. At Austin Stack Park in Tralee, Galway made their visit a winning one as they claimed a two-point victory, 1-11 to 1-09.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the championship and both Galway and Kerry ruled the roost. The latter made it three in a row in Munster as they prevailed against Waterford in the provincial decider, while Galway also claimed a third successive Connacht title, with victory over old rivals Mayo.<\/p>\n

Moving on to the All-Ireland series, the Tribes defeated Meath and Tyrone to top Group 4, as the Green and Gold accounted for Kildare and Tipperary to finish at the summit of Group 2.<\/p>\n

The All-Ireland quarter-finals paired Kerry with Meath, while Galway were handed a home tie with Mayo. Kerry and Galway both won well, before performance levels appeared to move up another level at the semi-final stage.<\/p>\n

Both sides appear to have timed their runs perfectly and there are plenty of potential match-winners on show.<\/p>\n

Galway have Olivia Divilly in a rich vein of form, with 2-24 to date in the All-Ireland series. She\u2019s Galway\u2019s leading scorer, with R\u00f3is\u00edn Leonard (2-14) also very much on song. The spread of scorers across the forward division has been impressive, with Leanne Coen (1-10), Kate Slevin (1-10), Kate Thompson (1-05) and Eva Noone (1-04) also making valuable contributions.<\/p>\n

For Kerry, captain S\u00edofra O\u2019Shea is playing a captain\u2019s role and her individual haul of 3-25 is the best in the championship so far. Danielle O\u2019Leary (1-07) and Jaydn Lucey (1-06) have also shown up well.<\/p>\n

On paper, this looks like an incredibly difficult game to call. Shrewd management teams have guided these squads to Croke Park and now it\u2019s down to who can produce the better performance levels on the day.<\/p>\n

Kerry start on 12 senior titles and a 13th would send them two clear of neighbours Cork on the all-time roll of honour.<\/p>\n

Galway, in contrast, go in search of just their second senior title, and a win would end a 22-year famine and help to erase the memories of their most recent final defeats.<\/p>\n

Only one captain can lift the Brendan Martin Cup at full-time, and it remains to be seen whether it\u2019s O\u2019Shea, who\u2019s been pulling the strings for Kerry, or Galway\u2019s Kate Geraghty, who\u2019s one member of a defence aiming to shut down the mercurial Kingdom talent.<\/p>\n

Galway: L O’Halloran; B Quinn, S N\u00ed Loingsigh, K Geraghty (capt); H Noone, N Ward, N Divilly; L Ward, S Divilly; O Divilly, K Slevin, K Thompson; E Noone, L Coen, R Leonard.<\/p>\n

Kerry: M Ellen Bolger; R Rahilly, D Kearney, E Lynch; A O’Connell, E Costello, A Dillane; A Galvin, M O’Connell; N Carmody, N N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair, C Evans; J Lucey, D O’Leary, S O’Shea (capt).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SUNDAY 2 AUGUST All-Ireland JFC final Antrim v Carlow; Croke Park, 11.45am All-Ireland IFC final Fermanagh v Roscommon;…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":577270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-577269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577269","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=577269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/577270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}