Good afternoon folks, and welcome to our live blog where we’ll bring you coverage of the Euro 2025 Round 1 playoff game between Georgia and the Republic of Ireland. I’m Muireann Duffy and I’ll be your guide through this match-up.
The Irish team, led by Eileen Gleeson, are all set to kick off the first leg of this playoff at the Mikheil Meskhi II Stadium in Tbilisi. This match will be aired live on RTÉ 2 at 5pm Irish time.
Next week, the Irish will host the Georgians at Tallaght Stadium, with a scheduled kick-off at 7:30pm. The team with the highest aggregate after these two encounters will proceed to confront the winner of the Wales vs. Slovakia playoff in the subsequent two-leg round.
The victorious team from this second playoff series will secure their berth in next year’s Euro tournament in Switzerland.
Despite recent winning results against Georgia, the Irish team are determined not to take anything for granted, especially because a place in their first-ever Euros is at stake.
Stay tuned, as we’ll keep you updated with the pre-match and in-game action.
And now, for the squad news. No major injuries or absentees to report, but we are well-prepared nonetheless.
David Gorman has kindly provided us with an injury update before the match:
– Both Louise Quinn (hip) and Megan Connolly (hamstring) are sidelined due to injuries and will not be substituted in the squad
– The team will miss the service of goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan, who is serving a suspension in the Georgian match
– Wexford Youth’s previous striker, Ellen Molloy, is fit for the match despite sustaining a minor injury in Sunday’s game between Sheffield United and Blackburn Rovers.
The starting line-up for the match is expected to be revealed later today, but here is the traveling squad that made their way to Tbilisi:
Goalkeepers: Everton’s Courtney Brosnan, Grace Moloney from London City Lionesses, Sophie Whitehouse representing Charlton Athletic, and Athlone Town’s Katie Keane.
Defenders include Jessie Stapleton from Sunderland on loan from West Ham United, Diane Caldwell of FC Zurich, Niamh Fahey from Liverpool, Manchester United’s Aoife Mannion, Caitlin Hayes from Celtic and Anna Patten of Aston Villa.
Midfielders for the squad include Katie McCabe from Arsenal, Denise O’Sullivan of North Carolina Courage, Tyler Toland of Blackburn Rovers, Lily Agg representing Birmingham City, Ellen Molloy from Sheffield United, Heather Payne of Everton, Izzy Atkinson from Crystal Palace, and Eva Mangan from Cork City.
In the front line we have Kyra Carusa from San Diego Wave, Amber Barrett of Standard Liege, Leanne Kiernan representing Liverpool, Abbie Larkin from Crystal Palace, Julie-Ann Russell of Galway United, and Marissa Sheva from Portland Thorns.
As for our history against Georgia, it can be summarised in one word – impressive. We battled against the Georgian team during last year’s World Cup qualifiers, specifically in Group A. The matches in November 2021 and the one in June the following year, both ended significantly in our favour.
A remarkable 11-0 victory was recorded at the Tallaght Stadium before we proceeded to score a 9-0 win in the away match in Gori. Unsurprisingly, the team appears in high spirits ahead of today’s match.