{"id":2685,"date":"2026-04-20T05:22:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T05:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/2685\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T05:22:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T05:22:07","slug":"world-cup-qualification-irelands-only-focus-says-carla-ward-after-poland-victories-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/2685\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup qualification Ireland\u2019s \u2018only focus\u2019, says Carla Ward after Poland victories \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

More manifestation at the Aviva Stadium. Carla Ward<\/a> was channelling Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson<\/a> after her Republic of Ireland<\/a> side put their World Cup<\/a> qualifying campaign back on track after taking six points off Poland over two legs, Saturday\u2019s win coming thanks to a winning goal from Marissa Sheva.<\/p>\n

Ward went straight on RT\u00c9 television to boldly inform the public that Ireland will qualify for Brazil 2027. <\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely,\u201d the English coach said in the press room at the Aviva. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have taken the job if I didn\u2019t believe we had the potential to get there. So we have to believe that we have to get there, and I am obsessed with it. That is what we work for.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow the girls executed the game plan in the last two games has been nothing short of sensational. They take messages on and they deliver it in a way like no group I\u2019ve ever worked with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite narrow losses to France and the Netherlands in March, with two wins over Poland and a 1-1 draw between the French and Dutch in Auxerre on Saturday night, Ireland could top Group A2 and qualify directly for the World Cup if they beat the Netherlands at P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh on June 5th and avoid defeat against the French in Grenoble four days later. <\/p>\n

Poland might need to do them a favour along the way. <\/p>\n

\u201cWorld Cups need players like Katie (McCabe) and Denise (O\u2019Sullivan) there,\u201d said Ward. \u201cI think the World Cup is a far better place with Ireland, if I\u2019m honest, and I think the world would be really delighted if Ireland make it. So that\u2019s our goal and that\u2019s our focus, our only focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s task will not get any easier after their standout performers O\u2019Sullivan and Emily Murphy received second yellow cards on Saturday to rule them out of the Netherlands game.<\/p>\n

\"DeniseDenise O’Sullivan attempts a shot on goal against Poland. Photograph: Brian Lawless\/PA <\/p>\n

There are alternatives, if Ruesha Littlejohn\u2019s Achilles tendon holds up to start in midfield, while Crystal Palace forward Abbie Larkin is joint top-scorer in the English second tier with eight goals so far this season.<\/p>\n

In reality, O\u2019Sullivan and Murphy are irreplaceable, and Ward\u2019s use of her bench over the last four qualifiers indicates an overreliance on a settled starting XI. Only Larkin and Amber Barrett were sprung in the 2-1 loss to France in Tallaght, while Lucy Quinn struggled to fill O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s boots when the Cork woman was injured for the game in Utrecht, where Lineth Beerensteyn\u2019s late goal put the Dutch in pole position in the group.<\/p>\n

Larkin was the only sub on Saturday with Barrett and Jess Ziu getting minutes in the 3-2 victory in Gdansk last Tuesday. Ziu, who at 23 has already recovered from two ACL tears, could prove a key addition. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking of fresh legs, but it is difficult because you don\u2019t want to upset the rhythm,\u201d said Ward. \u201cWe have a very, very clear way of playing without the ball and with the ball and that doesn\u2019t change. All that will change is players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ireland have climbed to 23rd in the Fifa rankings, their highest position since the 2023 World Cup. <\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that we\u2019re progressing really well in the last 15 months. The players feel that. We\u2019ve a great environment, a strong tight culture where we look after each other and run through brick walls. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople should look at Ireland and say \u2018you know what, they\u2019re not just resilient but a bloody good footballing team as well.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More manifestation at the Aviva Stadium. Carla Ward was channelling Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson after her Republic of Ireland side…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1262,1263,716,9,1261,2245],"class_list":{"0":"post-2685","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-poland","8":"tag-carla-ward","9":"tag-denise-o-sullivan","10":"tag-katie-mccabe","11":"tag-poland","12":"tag-republic-of-ireland-wnt","13":"tag-world-cup"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}