Ireland v Canada preview
Sport

Ireland v Canada preview

Game Two of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 for the Ireland Women’s National Team provides them with the opportunity to pick up their first points in Group B. A narrow defeat to co-hosts Australia marked their tournament debut, but now Vera Pauw’s team are aiming to take the points on offer in Perth to get off the mark.

“We have taken a lot of confidence from our performance against Australia but also recognised where we need to improve in order to get a positive result against a very good Canada team.  “Canada are the Olympic champions, they have a very good head coach and some world class players, so we know the size of the challenge in front of us. This team, though, always stands up to challenges and that is exactly what we are going to do again in Perth on Wednesday,"said Vera Pauw.  “The support from the Irish fans – both in Australia and around the world – has been fantastic and we are very appreciative of it. We want to do them proud. Our players and staff have worked incredibly hard, with such brilliant planning around our preparation, so we now feel that we are ready to go again.”

Here are some more details of the game.  MATCH DETAILSFIFA Women’s World Cup 2023Group BCanada v IrelandWednesday, July 26Perth Rectangular Stadium, PerthKO 20:00 (13:00 Irish Time)LIVE on RTÉ2

 

MATCH OFFICIALSReferee: Laura Fortunato (Argentina)Assistant Referee: Marianna De Almeida (Argentina)Assistant Referee: Daiana Milone (Argentina)Fourth Official: Akona Zenith Makhalima (South Africa)VAR Referee: Alejandro Hernandez (Spain)VAR Assistant: Juan Martinez (Spain)Offside VAR Referee: Neuza Back (Brazil)  TEAM NEWSDefender Louise Quinn has been training with a foot injury picked up in the loss to Australia but will be available for selection.  IRELAND WNT SQUADGoalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (Everton), Grace Moloney (Reading), Megan Walsh (Brighton & Hove Albion) Defenders: Heather Payne (Florida State University), Áine O'Gorman (Shamrock Rovers), Louise Quinn (Birmingham City), Niamh Fahey (Liverpool), Diane Caldwell (Reading), Claire O’Riordan (Standard Liege), Chloe Mustaki (Bristol City), Izzy Atkinson (West Ham United) Midfielders: Katie McCabe (Arsenal), Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Megan Connolly (Brighton & Hove Albion), Ruesha Littlejohn (Aston Villa), Ciara Grant (Hearts), Lily Agg (London City Lionesses), Lucy Quinn (Birmingham City), Sinead Farrelly (NY/NJ Gotham) Forwards: Kyra Carusa (London City Lionesses), Amber Barrett (Standard Liege), Marissa Sheva (Washington Spirit), Abbie Larkin (Shamrock Rovers)