When Katie McCabe leads the Ireland women’s soccer team on to the pitch in Sydney for their opening game of the 2023 World Cup, it will rank as a historic moment for Irish sport. On what is certain to be a remarkable occasion before 80,000 spectators, the Irish players and coaches will grasp the significance of the moment more than most. For they will be fully aware of the long, arduous road it has taken to get to soccer’s showpiece event.
That road has been paved with so many obstacles since the first Irish women’s senior international team took to the pitch in 1973 that the accomplishment of qualifying for the World Cup stands comparison with anything other Irish international sports teams have achieved, male or female. Deprived of basic resources for so long, the unwavering perseverance of those early pioneers of women’s soccer – and their successors – kept alive a dream that one day an Irish team would grace the world stage. That day has arrived.
For a tournament that only started in 1991 with 12 competing teams, the World Cup has grown exponentially with 32 teams battling it out over the next month. That rapid growth in participating teams has also been matched in attendances, TV audiences and prize money. This year’s staging in Australia and New Zealand is expected to be watched by 1.5 million spectators and over two billion TV viewers.
This illustrates how quickly women’s soccer is developing. More and more of its gifted players and teams are getting the type of profile their skills deserve. That recognition has been part of the Irish success story under coach Vera Pauw. Individual players have become familiar to the Irish public through their exploits with their clubs and on the international stage. As well as their football ability, these players have also proved to be exceptional role models for the tens of thousands of Irish girls who are now playing the game. Whether as footballers or ambassadors for their country, this Irish team richly deserves its place on soccer’s greatest stage.