My First World Cup: Vera Pauw makes decision on Ireland squad to travel Down Under

The Republic of Ireland have announced the 23 players who will represent them at the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

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Having originally named a 31-player squad for a training camp that took place throughout June, the group has been streamlined today to adhere with the tournament’s regulations.

This means that goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse, defenders Harriet Scott, Hayley Nolan and Tara O’Hanlon, midfielders Jamie Finn and Erin McLaughlin, and forwards Saoirse Noonan and Leanne Kiernan have all missed out on appearing at Ireland’s first-ever major tournament.

Manager Vera Pauw has also been unable to select Liverpool’s Megan Campbell and Manchester United’s Aoife Mannion after both failed to recovery from injury in time to be considered for selection. West Ham United’s Izzy Atkinson has been picked to take the place of Campbell.

Pauw also revealed that fitness played a significant role in the decision to leave out Liverpool forward Kiernan after she appeared just twice in the Women’s Super League last season due to a serious ankle injury.

There was however a place for 18-year-old Shamrock Rovers attacker Abbie Larkin after she impressed Pauw in last week’s 3-2 victory over Zambia in Dublin.

Following the squad announcement, Pauw said: “We have done everything in our capacity to go through every single detail to come to this decision. We went through every moment of every player that has played. We are convinced that we’ve made the right decisions even though it has been very, very tough.

“We haven’t been able yet to sit down with the players who have made the squad, we put all of our energy into the players who did not make it.”

The biggest surprise in terms of omissions is likely that of Birmingham City’s Finn. She has been a regular starter for Pauw since 2019 and played the full 90 minutes in the crucial play-off win against Scotland that secured Ireland’s place at the World Cup. Pauw said leaving out the 25-year-old was the hardest decision she had to make.

She will however travel to the team’s training base in Brisbane as a reserve along with ‘keeper Whitehouse and Birmingham team-mate Scott. The trio are eligible to take the place of any of the 23 players in the squad selected today should any injuries occur prior to the tournament beginning.

Ireland will take on France in a final warm-up fixture on home soil on July 7 before their World Cup adventure gets underway against co-hosts Australia in Sydney on July 20.

Republic of Ireland squad in full

Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan, Grace Moloney, Megan Walsh.

Defenders: Heather Payne, Aine O’Gorman, Niamh Fahey, Louise Quinn, Diane Caldwell, Claire O’Riordan, Megan Connolly, Chloe Mustaki, Izzy Atkinson.

Midfielders: Katie McCabe, Denise O’Sullivan, Lily Agg, Ruesha Littlejohn, Ciara Grant, Sinead Farrelly, Lucy Quinn.

Forwards: Kyra Carusa, Amber Barrett, Marissa Sheva, Abbie Larkin.