Ireland's WNT will play France in Tallaght before departing for this year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand
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Ireland's WNT will play France in Tallaght before departing for this year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand

The Republic of Ireland Women's national team will play a France at the Tallaght Stadium  on July 6 before they jet off to play in their first World Cup.

The Girl's in Green had hoped to play at the Aviva Stadium, but that never came to suffice due to planned redevelopment work being done on the pitch.

Ireland's last game on home soil was against Finland, where they lost 1-0 in a crucial qualifier.

Since then Ireland managed to reach their first major tournament by beating Scotland 1-0 in the play-offs

Vera Pauw’s team will now host a team currently at No 5 in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings and who reached the semi-finals of UEFA Women’s EURO 2022. They will also compete at this summer’s World Cup. The game will be included in a first ever WNT Season Ticket package, which will take in the UEFA Women’s Nations League fixtures that are scheduled for later in the year. WNT Manager Vera Pauw said: “It is fantastic that we will get to play in front of our fans in our home of Tallaght Stadium before going to Australia for the World Cup.

“I’d like to thank everyone at the FAI who has helped to organise this game because we need to test ourselves against a high quality opponent in order to prepare us for the World Cup. France are one of the top teams in the world and will provide us with the type of challenge that we require. “A lot of hard work continues to be done around our preparations for the World Cup with some excellent games lined up. We are excited to be returning to Tallaght Stadium – that is where we have made so many great memories. “It is also brilliant news to have a season ticket package for our home games in 2023. This is another significant part of the ongoing development of women and girls’ football in Ireland and we are looking forward to playing in front of our fans in some big games.”FAI CEO Jonathan Hill welcomed the announcement of the game by saying: "We are delighted to confirm this home game for the Ireland Women's National Team against an opponent who are amongst the best in women's football right now."We did explore the possibility of hosting this game in Aviva Stadium but it was not available due to scheduled pitch redevelopment work. We are now aiming to sell out Tallaght Stadium for what will be the perfect way to send the Ireland team off to the World Cup." Match details and information around tickets will be announced in due course.