Ireland face Australia, Canada, Nigeria in 'death mass' - Irish Times

Vera Pau’s history-making players must gather results from co-hosts Australia, Olympic gold medalists Canada and African champions Nigeria to escape Group B at next year’s soccer World Cup. .

Two teams qualified for the Knockout Stage, but with three matches played in 11 days, 8,000 km and three cities covered, making it into the Knockout Stage was a big challenge for the Republic of Ireland. I’m here.

Still, opening gambits in major tournaments was once an Irish specialty.

Ireland, the centerpiece of this global gathering, will take on The Matildas at Sydney Football Stadium on 20 July. Opponents, despite the presence of Chelsea superstar Sam Kerr, he won 3-2 at Tallaght Stadium last year.

“It’s a very tough draw,” Pow said.the game explodes [in Ireland].

“In a country half Irish, how good would it be to play the opening game against the hosts in a packed stadium?

“Households are divided — ‘Who do we support?'”

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Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D	Group E	Group F	Group G	Group H
new zealand	Australia	Spain	England	united states of america	France	Sweden	Germany
Norway	Canada	Japan	China	Netherlands	Brazil	Italy	Korea
Switzerland	Republic of Ireland	Costa Rica	Denmark	Vietnam	Jamaica	Argentina	Columbia
Philippines	Nigeria	Zambia	Winner Chile v Haiti/Senegal	Portugal vs Cameroon/Thailand winner	Winner of Chinese Taipei/Paraguay vs Papua New Guinea/Panama	South Africa	Morocco

But Group B never gives up. Six days after her match against Australia, Pau’s 23-man women’s team will have to travel 4,000 km to face FIFA-ranked 7th-ranked Canada at her Oval in Perth. .

Nigeria, ranked 45th, is the strongest African nation in terms of distance and will be their final opponents on 31 July at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

“We are not afraid of anyone. We are ready,” Pow said. “The first race will be nervous for them, we will be nervous, but I think we have shown that we can do our best under high pressure. All I can say is to all the teams. It’s just about providing the game.”

With new financial burdens piling up on the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to ensure that this Katie McCabe-led group has the budget they need to compete with the best teams in the world, how prepared are they? I still don’t know if it’s done.

FAI, now paying off a debt of €63.5m, is already scrambling to attract a worthy friendly opponent at the international window in November.

“Knowing who to play against is very important, but most countries have already set the game,” Pow said. “There will be a lot of lobbying tonight and tomorrow.”

England at Aviva Stadium, where Irish women have never been allowed to play for the national team, would be an ideal send-off early next summer.

“I don’t know if England is waiting for us. Yes,” said Pauw.

Multi-match tickets for the World Cup go on sale from 6 October and single match tickets go on sale from Tuesday 25 October at €12/€13 for adults and €6/€7 for children. Visit the ticket portal here. The FAI is accepting ticket applications for Ireland’s three group matches from Monday.

Sydney Football Stadium, also known as Allianz Stadium, holds 42,500 supporters, so tickets are no problem. Perth Oval has a capacity of 20,500 and Suncorp in Brisbane he has a capacity of 52,500. But flying a total of 8,300km in 11 days between his three Australian cities isn’t exactly an eco-friendly, player- and fan-friendly odyssey.

“We’re the only ones who have it,” Pow said.

“That’s what we have to face. We need to see if we can create a home base and move from there to the venue, or if we can move from venue to venue without using a base. ”

Also, Ireland’s three Australian venues operate in three different time zones.

The tournament kicks off on July 20th at the iconic Eden Park, also in Auckland, with co-host New Zealand taking on 1995 champions Norway. Ireland vs. Australia continues hours after the tournament jumps across multiple time zones.

The three-time defending American champions will begin their defense against Vietnam on 22 July at Eden Park, the venue for the 2011 Rugby World Cup final.

Euro winners England are in Group D alongside China, Denmark and play-off qualifiers.

England’s group winners will face the Group B runners-up and vice versa, so a third face-off between neighbors in a major tournament remains a distant possibility.

Meanwhile, football needs to get used to the haka and didgeridoo. The early morning draw from Auckland kicked off with a traditional ‘Kia ora Aotearoa’ welcome from New Zealand, before co-hosts of the 9th FIFA Women’s World Her Cup put on a glamorous Saturday night show (Ireland than she is 12 hours earlier).

Women’s World Cup draw: Following the draw in Auckland, New Zealand, Ireland are in Group B alongside Australia, Canada and Nigeria.

“Football is a joy,” declared FIFA president Gianni Infantino. “Broadcasters are offering us 1 in 100 offers for the men’s World Cup… press us to do more for equality, but at the same time we does not intend to accept these offers.

That’s right, Infantino used gender equality as a bargaining tool with rights holders.

“next [women’s] The World Cup will cost about $400 million [€405 million] Homosexuality is illegal and criminalized in Qatar, so despite the apparent contradiction, the men’s World Cup next month is aimed at “making a difference to anyone regardless of nationality, background, gender or sexual orientation.” We are all welcome to Qatar,” he reiterated. He is sentenced to seven years in prison.

Kick-off times in Australia and New Zealand, crucial to securing lucrative broadcasting deals in North America and Europe, have yet to be confirmed.

The final returns to Sydney on August 20, but is changed to the 2000 Olympic Stadium.

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