Sweden 1 - 1 Republic of Ireland | 2023 - FIFA Women's World Cup | 999947160

FIFA Women's World Cup | Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg

12 Apr 2022 17:30

Sweden 1 - 1 Republic of Ireland

Report
Preview
Lineups
Minute by Minute Commentary
Statistics
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REPORT | Sweden 1-1 WNT

The term 'OUTBELIEVE' was trending on social media as the Republic of Ireland secured a deserved 1-1 draw away to Sweden in their 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Qualifying campaign.

13th Apr 2022

The task of taking on Group A leaders Sweden, who are ranked No 2 in the world, was never going to be easy. But Vera Pauw had a game plan that her team executed and that made this an altogether different contest.

The Gamla Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg feel short of a record ceowd with 12,123 spectators turning up to watch the home team ultimately qualify for the World Cup, as they required just a point to go through.

Ireland made it difficult for them to achieve that though. In fact, it was the Girls in Green who held the lead at the interval following Katie McCabe's deflected strike minutes before the half-time whistle sounded.

Up to that point, Ireland held their shape well, worked hard for each other, pressed their opponents at the right time and defended bravely as Sweden tried to find openings that just were not there.

Goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan registered a superb performance - pulling off a wonder save in the second half - and Ireland did have some luck on their side as Sweden could not find a finishing touch.

With 11 minutes remaining, Sweden got their goal when Kosovare Asllani kept her cool to fire in from close range following excellent play by Olivia Schough. The home crowd erupted as that was the goal that they needed to secure World Cup qualification.

The point collected moves Ireland onto 10 points with three games still to play - Georgia away, Finland home and Slovakia away. The Play-Offs are very much in sight.

Sweden: Hedvig Lindahl; Linda Sembrant (Fridolina Rolfo 56), Amanda Ilestedt, Magdalena Eriksson; Hanna Glas (Nathalie Bjorn 76), Hanna Bennison (Filippa Angeldal 56), Caroline Seger, Jonna Andersson; Lina Hurtig (Olivia Schough 76), Kosovare Asllani, Stina Blackstenius.

Republic of Ireland: Courtney Brosnan; Niamh Fahey, Louise Quinn, Megan Connolly: Jamie Finn, Ruesha Littlejohn, Denise O’Sullivan, Chloe Mutaki; Lucy Quinn, Katie McCabe; Heather Payne (Leanne Kiernan 74).

Referee: Iuliana Demetrescu (România).

PREVIEW | Sweden v WNT

The Republic of Ireland go into their fifth game in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Qualifiers as they take on Group A leaders Sweden on Tuesday evening in Gothenburg.

11th Apr 2022

Vera Pauw's squad are currently second in the Group - 11 points behind Sweden with a game in hand. Sweden require a single point to secure qualification to next year's tournament.

The game will be broadcast live on RTÉ2 and worldwide on the RTÉ Player, kicking off at 17:30 Irish Time (18:30 local time).

Team News
All players who travelled are fit and available for selection.

Quotes
Republic of Ireland Manager Vera Pauw

"This is the kind of game that we want to be involved in and one that we must experience if we are to achieve our goal of qualifying for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. We are going into a full stadium to play the second-highest ranked team in women's football, so we have no option but to raise our game.

"We have prepared as best as we can within the timeframe that we have been given. We have four difficult qualifying games to go in our Group and we feel ready to take on those challenges.

Sweden is up next and we fully respect their quality. We know that we will have to adapt to their game as they are second in the world. We hope to continue the good form that we have shown in recent games and compete as a team against this massive team."

Previous Meetings
P7 W0 D1 L6 GF2 GA24

Notes
- The Republic of Ireland moved up one place to 30th in the latest FIFA Women’s World Rankings list release, while Sweden stayed in second place

- This will be Vera Pauw's 20th in charge of Ireland with 8 wins, 2 draws and 9 defeats; 31 goals scored and 24 conceded.

- The capacity at the Gamla Ullevi is 14,463. Sweden achieved a record attendance there against Finland with 13,429. With over 12,000 tickets already sold, the Ireland game could be a new record if it keeps selling well.
*Sweden's overall best attendance was 25,882 for a game against Germany in 2006 in the Solna Friends Arena

Group A

Results
21 October, 2021 | Republic of Ireland 0-1 Sweden
26 October, 2021 | Finland 1-2 Republic of Ireland
25 November, 2021 | Republic of Ireland 1-1 Slovakia
30 November, 2021 | Republic of Ireland 11-0 Georgia

Fixtures
12 April, 2022 | Sweden v Republic of Ireland
27 June, 2022 | Georgia v Republic of Ireland
1 September, 2022 | Republic of Ireland v Finland
6 September, 2022 | Slovakia v Republic of Ireland

Goalscorers
4 – Denise O’Sullivan
3 – Katie McCabe
2 – Megan Connolly
1 – Amber Barrett, Kyra Carusa, Saoirse Noonan, Lucy Quinn, Maiko Bebia OG

Clean Sheets
1 – Courtney Brosnan

Republic of Ireland WNT Squad
Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (Everton), Grace Moloney (Reading), Megan Walsh (Brighton & Hove Albion), Eve Badana (DLR Waves)
Defenders: Harriet Scott (Birmingham City), Niamh Fahey (Liverpool), Louise Quinn (Birmingham City), Claire Walsh (Glasgow City), Chloe Mustaki (Shelbourne), Claire O'Riordan (MSV Duisburg), Éabha O'Mahony (Boston College), Áine O'Gorman (Peamount United)
Midfielders: Katie McCabe (Arsenal), Denise O'Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Megan Connolly (Brighton & Hove Albion), Ruesha Littlejohn (Aston Villa), Jamie Finn (Birmingham City), Ciara Grant (Rangers), Jess Ziu (Shelbourne), Lily Agg (London City Lionesses), Lucy Quinn (Birmingham City), Isibeal Atkinson (Celtic)
Forwards: Heather Payne (Florida State University), Kyra Carusa (HB Hoge), Amber Barrett (FC Koln), Leanne Kiernan (Liverpool), Ellen Molloy (Wexford Youths), Abbie Larkin (Shelbourne)

Republic of Ireland WNT Caps
Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (11 caps / 3 clean sheets), Grace Moloney (5 caps / 0 clean sheets), Megan Walsh (1 cap / 0 clean sheets), Eve Badana (4 caps / 1 clean sheet)
Defenders: Harriet Scott (20 caps / 0 goals), Niamh Fahey (101 caps / 0 goals), Louise Quinn (93 caps / 13 goals), Claire Walsh (4 caps / 0 goals), Chloe Mustaki (1 cap / 0 goals), Claire O'Riordan (17 caps / 0 goals), Éabha O'Mahony (3 caps / 0 goals), Áine O'Gorman (112 caps / 13 goals)
Midfielders: Katie McCabe (60 caps / 13 goals), Denise O'Sullivan (92 caps / 17 goals), Megan Connolly (34 caps / 3 goals), Ruesha Littlejohn (65 caps / 6 goals), Jamie Finn (10 caps / 0 goals), Ciara Grant (16 caps / 0 goals), Jess Ziu (8 caps / 0 goals), Lily Agg (0 caps / 0 goals), Lucy Quinn (8 caps / 2 goals), Isibeal Atkinson (4 caps / 0 goals)
Forwards: Heather Payne (24 caps / 1 goal), Kyra Carusa (7 caps / 2 goals), Amber Barrett (29 caps / 4 goals), Leanne Kiernan (24 caps / 4 goals), Ellen Molloy (5 caps / 0 goals), Abbie Larkin (2 caps / 0 goals)

2023 FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP QUALIFIER - GROUP A
Sweden v Republic of Ireland
Tuesday, April 12th
Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg
KO 17:30 (18:30 local time)
Referee: Iuliana Demetrescu (Romania)
Assistant Referees: Petruta Iugulescu, Mihaela Tepusa (Romania)
Fourth Official: Ana Maria Alexandra Terteleac (Romania)
LIVE on RTÉ2 & RTÉ Player Worldwide
#SWEIRL | #COYGIG | #OUTBELIEVE