Australia Women vs Ireland Women – Match preview, Live stream, kick-off time, prediction, team news, lineups
2023 Women’s World Cup co-hosts kick off the tournament with New Zealand taking on Norway at 8 am (UK time) and Australia facing the Republic of Ireland at 11 am (UK time).
Australia vs Republic of Ireland (11:00, Sydney) – ITV
Match Preview
Australia World Cup campaign
Australia face Ireland in front of their home fans in Sydney. The co-hosts are in a tough Group B (Ireland, Canada and Nigeria), but they will be looking to go far in the tournament, especially with star player Sam Kerr in action.
R. Ireland are making their first-ever appearance at the World Cup.
Australia have progressed to the knockout rounds in each of the last four World Cup finals.
In their most recent game, Australia beat France 1-0 in a friendly. They also ended England’s 30-match unbeaten run after beating the Lionesses 2-0 in another friendly match.
Having won nine of their last 10 internationals, Tony Gustavsson’s side will be full of confidence for their first match.
After losing their last three World Cup openers, Australia are looking to begin the tournament with a win for the first time since 2007 when they kicked off their campaign with a 4-1 victory over Ghana.
Republic of Ireland World Cup campaign
Following a victory over Scotland, R. Ireland booked their place at their first major tournament – finishing behind Sweden in their qualifying group.
Since their historic win, they have gone on to record two victories, one draw and three defeats in six games, before their final warm-up game against Colombia was abandoned after 20 minutes as Ireland felt that the match had become “overly physical”.
Ireland goes into the World Cup as underdogs, and after they failed to score in four of their last five matches, they will have to dig deeps to knock down a fired-up Australian team.
However, Ireland may be keen to point out that they had no trouble finding the net in their most recent meeting with Australia in September 2021 when they claimed a 3-2 victory in Dublin.
Team News
Tameka Yallop is a doubt after her substitute appearance in Australia’s final warm-up game was cut short due to injury.
After coming off the bench to score the winner against France, Fowler has made a solid case to start the opening game.
Australia’s record scorer Sam Kerr could be one of the contenders for the Golden Boot, and she will be determined to start the tournament on a positive note when she features up front against Ireland.
As for Ireland, they are hopeful that Denise O’Sullivan will recover in time for Thursday’s contest after she sustained a shin injury in the abandoned friendly against Colombia.
Ireland boss Vera Pauw will continue to utilise a back five, which could feature Heather Payne, Louise Quinn, Niamh Fahey, Megan Connolly and Katie McCabe.
Kyra Carusa, who plays for London City Lionesses in the English Championship, is expected to be given the responsibility of leading the line against Australia.
Australia Women possible starting lineup:
Arnold; Carpenter, Hunt, Kennedy, Catley; Raso, Gorry, Cooney-Cross, Fowler; Foord, Kerr
Ireland Women possible starting lineup:
Brosnan; Payne, Fahey, Lo. Quinn, Connolly, McCabe; Farrelly, O’Sullivan, Littlejohn, Sheva; Carusa
WTX Sport predicts Australia 2-1 Ireland
We think Ireland will dig deep and give all they have – but Australia on home soil with Sam Kerr will prove lethal.
Like the New Zealand opener, we expect the game to start a little shaky as nerves dominate the first half, but the Matildas will soon wake everyone up.
