October 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\nFull-time: Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 8<\/p>\n
A stroll for Ireland in Astana, goals from Kyra Carusa (two), Chloe Mustaki, Emily Murphy, Abbie Larkin, Jamie Finn, debutant Shanade Hopcroft and Jessie Stapleton (all but) settling this play-off with the second leg still to come on Tuesday at P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh. <\/p>\n
It was a heck of a day for player of the match Mustaki – she scored her first senior international goal and provided just the three assists. Even Katie McCabe (suspended for this game), whose usual left-wing-back role Mustaki filled, would have been happy enough with that haul. <\/p>\n
Carla Ward can, you\u2019d imagine, already start planning for the play-off final which will be played over two legs in November and December against Belgium or Poland – who meet this evening in Leuven in the first leg of their semi-final. <\/p>\n
90 mins: GOAL! Jessie Stapleton<\/p>\n
A looping header from the defender who scores her third international goal from Abbie Larkin\u2019s right wing cross. That\u2019s Ireland\u2019s fifth headed goal of the game <\/p>\n
Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 8<\/p>\n
73 mins: GOAL! Shanade Hopcroft<\/p>\n
She\u2019s hardly been on the pitch for her debut and Shanade Hopcroft marks it with a goal, smartly turning home Aoife Mannion\u2019s cross from the right. There won\u2019t be a cow milked in Tubbercurry for a month. <\/p>\n
Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 7<\/p>\n
70 mins: Shanade Hopcroft comes on for her Irish debut, the Crystal Palace midfielder replacing Caitlin Hayes – a proud day for Tubbercurry, where her granny Nora was born. Hopcroft\u2019s Palace team-mate Hayley Nolan also comes on for Anna Patten<\/p>\n
Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 6<\/p>\n
58 mins: GOAL! Jamie Finn<\/p>\n
You know the way we were just saying that Kazakhstan looked a bit more solid at the back? Well, it\u2019s 6-0 now. Jamie Finn marks her 23rd appearance for Ireland with her first goal, the Burnley midfielder heading home Aoife Mannion\u2019s cross from the right. <\/p>\n
Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 6<\/p>\n
56 mins: Ireland continue pressing, Kazakhstan barely getting a touch of the ball, but the hosts are looking a teeny bit more solid at the back in the early stages of the second half, helped by often having 10 bodies in their own box. <\/p>\n
Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 5<\/p>\n
45 mins: We\u2019re off again. Carla Ward has made three changes at the break, Amber Barrett, Leanne Kiernan and Tyler Toland on for Kyra Carusa, Emily Murphy and Megan Connolly.<\/p>\n
By the by, Ireland\u2019s record win came five years ago in Tallaght when they beat Georgia 11-0. Even if they don\u2019t match that tally, let\u2019s just say, the return leg in P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh next Tuesday is likely to be, well, a bit of a formality. <\/p>\n
Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 5<\/p>\n
Half-time: Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 5<\/p>\n
A walk in the park. Two goals from Kyra Carusa and one each from Chloe Mustaki, Emily Murphy and Abbie Larkin have sent Ireland on their way to what could yet become a scoreline of cricket-ish proportions. Kazakhstan are down to 10 players too after their captain Yulia Myasnikova was (very harshly) sent off, and they\u2019ve also had to replace their goalkeeper. Apart from that, it\u2019s all gone well for them. <\/p>\n
45 + 3 mins: GOAL! Abbie Larkin<\/p>\n
Oh Lord, it\u2019s carnage. Chloe Mustaki – again! – provides the assist, tapping Aoife Mannion\u2019s cross from the right in to the path of Abbie Larkin who heads home.<\/p>\n
Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 5<\/p>\n
44mins: GOAL! Emily Murphy<\/p>\n
Yes, things have got worse for Kazakhstan. Abbie Larkin weaved her way past three defenders, her shot was saved by Angelina Portnova but the ball fell straight to Emily Murphy who tapped home for her third international goal.<\/p>\n
Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 4<\/p>\n
37 mins: Nazym Ismailova has gone off and has been replaced by Angelina Portnova. We will no longer say \u201cthings couldn\u2019t get any worse\u201d for Kazakhstan because they appear to be doing just that. <\/p>\n
Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 3<\/p>\n
35 mins: And now Kazakhstan\u2019s goalkeeper Nazym Ismailova has gone down injured with what looks like a shoulder injury after she crashed in to Anna Patten while attempting to collect a corner. They\u2019ll be relieved when this day is over. <\/p>\n
32 mins: As if things couldn\u2019t get any worse for Kazakhstan, Norwegian referee Karoline Jensen has sent off their captain Yulia Myasnikova for hauling down Abbie Larkin outside the box. It looked like an extremely harsh decision, marginally mad, it was a yellow at most.<\/p>\n
Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 3<\/p>\n
28 mins: GOAL! Kyra Carusa again. <\/p>\n
And once again Chloe Mustaki is the creator – that\u2019s a goal and two assists for the left wing-back. Her cross floats over goalkeeper Nazym Ismailova and an unmarked Carusa heads home. This is a stroll. (So far).<\/p>\n
Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 3<\/p>\n
16 mins: GOAL! Chloe Mustaki.<\/p>\n
The Nottingham Forest defender\u2019s first goal for Ireland on her 20th appearance. Emily Murphy hit the post when the goalkeeper failed to hold Abbie Larkin\u2019s shot, the rebound falling to Mustaki on the left who rifled the ball in to the roof of the net. <\/p>\n
Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 2<\/p>\n
11 mins: It\u2019s still all Ireland, Emily Murphy just failing to get on the end of another fine cross from Anna Patten. Wing-backs Aoife Mannion and Chloe Mustaki are playing so far up the pitch Ireland\u2019s formation is beginning to look like 0-0-10. <\/p>\n
Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 1<\/p>\n
7 mins: GOAL! Kyra Carusa.<\/p>\n
A terrific header from Carusa from a Chloe Mustaki cross, her 14th international goal. The Kazakhstan goalkeeper Nazym Ismailova looked decidedly ropey in the build-up, it could be a long afternoon for her. <\/p>\n
Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 1<\/p>\n
5 mins: Ireland playing keep-ball in the opening stages, Kazakhstan struggling to get out of their own half. The first chance of the game fell to Abbie Larkin who headed Anna Patten\u2019s cross over the bar – should have done better. <\/p>\n
Kazakhstan 0 Ireland 0<\/p>\n
We\u2019re up and running, a very sparse crowd in their seats at the 30,000 capacity stadium. A few hardy Irish folk have made the trip, though. It\u2019ll be January before they get over the jet lag. <\/p>\n
Carla Ward has been waving away questions this week about her contract situation with the FAI. Her current deal is due to expire at the end of this qualifying campaign – December, at the latest – but she has refused to confirm or deny whether she is in talks with the FAI over an extension. The fact that Aston Villa, who she managed before taking the Irish job, are currently looking for a new manager after sacking Natalia Arroyo 10 days ago has added to speculation about Ward\u2019s position. She insists, though, that her sole focus is on getting Ireland to Brazil next summer.<\/p>\n
Astroturf alert: This game will be played on an artificial surface, a factor Ward said played a part in her team selection. \u201cLet me tell you, players don\u2019t like playing on 3G,\u201d she said earlier in the week, so anyone carrying joint niggles and the like will be used sparingly, if at all. <\/p>\n
The temperatures were close to zero when the squad arrived in Astana on Monday, after an 11-hour trip, but it\u2019s warmed up a bit since – it\u2019ll be around the 10 degrees mark at kick-off time, Astana being four hours ahead of us. The roof will be closed in the Astana Arena, so that should help keep any chill out. <\/p>\n
One new name among the subs today is Shanade Hopcroft, the Crystal Palace midfielder a surprise inclusion in the squad Ward named last week. The 29-year-old qualifies for Ireland through her Sligo grandmother. <\/p>\n
Good morning – or if you\u2019re in Astana, a highly pleasant afternoon to you. That\u2019s where the Republic of Ireland\u2019s women kick-start their efforts to get through four World Cup qualifying play-off games, the prize, if they prevail, a place at next summer\u2019s finals in Brazil. <\/p>\n
They start, then, away to Kazakhstan (kick-off: noon, live on RT\u00c9 2), the return leg in P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh next Tuesday. And if they can come out on top of that play-off, the final hurdle will be Belgium or Poland over two legs in November and December. <\/p>\n
All week, the Irish camp has been stressing that they won\u2019t take Kazakhstan for granted, but seeing as they are ranked 77 places below Ireland in the Fifa list, it would be – not to be dramatic or anything – a calamitous catastrophe if they failed to get the better of them.<\/p>\n
Here is the team news:<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll take you through the line-up shortly, meanwhile you can have a read of Gavin Cummiskey\u2019s preview of the game.<\/p>\n
[\u00a0Ireland without four key players as they face Kazakhstan in World Cup playoff semi-finalOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\nRepublic of Ireland head coach Carla Ward is without four of her most trusted players for this game – captain Katie McCabe and Marissa Sheva (both suspended), Denise O\u2019Sullivan (spared the long trip to Kazakhstan due to recent injury problems) and Ruesha Littlejohn (the 36-year-old still without a club having been released by Crystal Palace in May). <\/p>\n
To add to Ward\u2019s woes, Jess Ziu, a likely replacement for O\u2019Sullivan, was ruled out yesterday with a shin problem.<\/p>\n
Opportunity has knocked, then, for a few other players, notably midfielder Jamie Finn, who starts her first game for Ireland in three injury-interrupted years, and defender Jessie Stapleton, who hasn\u2019t made the starting line-up since last October. <\/p>\n
It looks like Stapleton will make up a back three with Anna Patten and Caitlin Hayes, with Aoife Mannion and Chloe Mustaki the wing-backs. Finn is likely to partner Megan Connolly in midfield behind a front three of Kyra Carusa, Emily Murphy and Abbie Larkin.<\/p>\n
In the absence of McCabe and O\u2019Sullivan, goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan captains the side.<\/p>\n