Republic of Ireland defender Louise Quinn is determined to exit the World Cup on a high.

The Irish cannot make the knockout stages after defeats to Australia and Canada but still have one group game remaining against Nigeria in Brisbane on Monday.

Yet the African side are well on course for the last 16 after their stunning triumph over hosts Australia last time out and Quinn recognises her team have their work cut out.

The 33-year-old told Sky Sports: “How they’re even ranked the fourth seed in the group I don’t know, because they are an excellent, excellent team.

“We knew that we wanted to be able to come into this game, in terms of progressing through the group, to really have something to play for but, for us, there’s still so much that we want to achieve and that we want to do.

“We want to still make the history of getting points, really mixing up this group for us. We’re still fully concentrated on that.

“But they’ve been excellent, they’ve proved it in their two games. We have our work cut out with them.

“But, at the same time, we’ve shown against the two top sides in this group as well, Australia and Canada, that they’re going to have to beware of us in a lot of ways.”

Nigeria go into the game as leaders of Group B, ahead of Canada on goals scored. Australia, who face Canada, are a point behind with the Irish still to register.

Ireland have no fresh fitness concerns and are hopeful Heather Payne will be able to return after missing the Canada game with a hamstring problem.

Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe said she was “heartbroken” after her team’s World Cup last-16 hopes were ended by a 2-1 loss to Canada in Perth in their second group game.

Ireland, who had opened their debut campaign at a major tournament with last week’s 1-0 loss to co-hosts Australia, were on course for an historic victory after McCabe gave them an early lead, scoring direct from a corner in the fourth minute.

But Canada hit back as a Megan Connolly own goal restored parity in first-half stoppage time and Adriana Leon then netted the winner eight minutes into the second half.

With their efforts to respond against the Olympic champions falling short, Vera Pauw’s side, bottom of Group B, were left knowing they will be heading home after facing Nigeria in their final pool match in Brisbane next Monday.

Asked about scoring the first Irish goal at a Women’s World Cup, McCabe said on ITV1: “It’s bittersweet, isn’t it?

“Of course it’s nice to score and get us off to a good start, but it’s the results that matter in this game, at this level, in these type of tournaments. I’m just heartbroken for the girls because I felt like we deserved so much more from the game.

“I think we took a lot of positives from that second half against Australia, decided to be more confident and back ourselves a bit more going forward.

“We know we have the quality and the pace as well, especially on the flanks. We wanted to start the game with a lot of energy, getting in Canada’s face as much as possible and putting them under a lot of pressure, and I felt we did that. It’s just about capitalising on those moments then as well.”

Regarding the equaliser, McCabe said: “I think we felt like we were in control. It was unfortunate, it’s a sucker punch just before half-time, getting so close – it would have been nice to go in at 1-0.

“Even then, we felt the second half we could push for another goal, and obviously they scored then.”

The versatile Arsenal player said it was “an absolute honour and an absolute privilege” to captain the Ireland side, adding: “I’m just so proud of each and every single one of them, staff included.

“We’ve done so much to get here and now it’s about pushing on. We know now we’ve had tournament experience and we’re going to be hungry for more.

“Against Nigeria we want to end this tournament on a high and give the fans something to cheer about, because they were absolutely immense all game.”

Ireland crashed out of the Women’s World Cup after Canada came from behind to beat them 2-1 on Wednesday.

Spain and Japan reached the last 16 with a game to spare.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at all of Wednesday’s action.

Spain cruise into last 16

Jenni Hermoso and Alba Redondo scored twice as Spain thumped Zambia 5-0 to reach the last 16.

One of the tournament favourites made the knockout stages with a game to spare having already beaten Costa Rica in their first match.

Teresa Abelleira opened the scoring before Hermoso and Redondo took charge as Spain eased to victory.

Japan ease past Costa Rica

Japan also qualified for the last 16 with a routine win over Costa Rica.

Quickfire first-half goals from Hikaru Naomoto and Aoba Fujino saw the 2011 champions through.

Japan and Spain will battle it out for top spot in their final Group C game when they face each other on Monday.

Canada fight back to break Irish hearts

Ireland bowed out of the tournament after Canada came from behind to win in Group B.

Captain Katie McCabe gave Ireland the lead when she scored straight from a corner after just four minutes.

Megan Connolly’s own goal levelled just before half-time and Adriana Leon grabbed Canada’s winner eight minutes after the break.

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Group E: USA v Netherlands (2am, Wellington Regional Stadium)
Group E: Portugal v Vietnam (830am, Waikato Stadium)
Group B: Australia v Nigeria (11am, Brisbane Stadium)

Republic of Ireland’s hopes of reaching the World Cup last 16 came to an end as Canada came from behind to beat Vera Pauw’s side 2-1 in their second group game in Perth.

Ireland, who had opened what is their debut campaign at a major tournament finals with last week’s 1-0 loss to co-hosts Australia, were set for an historic victory after captain Katie McCabe gave them an early lead, audaciously scoring direct from a corner in the fourth minute.

But things turned around as a Megan Connolly own goal restored parity in first-half stoppage time, and Adriana Leon then put Canada in front eight minutes into the second half.

McCabe saw a subsequent strike deflect wide as Ireland sought an equaliser but were unable to hit back against the Olympic champions.

As Canada move to the top of Group B on four points, one clear of Australia having played a game more, Ireland are left knowing they will be heading home after facing Nigeria in their final pool match in Brisbane next Monday.

While there was disruption for Ireland just before kick-off as Heather Payne felt a tweak in her hamstring during the warm-up and was replaced in the team by Aine O’Gorman, they made a great start to the game, putting Canada under pressure almost immediately.

And after Kyra Carusa brought a third-minute save out Kailen Sheridan and the ball went behind, the resulting corner brought the Girls in Green their first World Cup goal thanks to an outrageous effort from their skipper.

McCabe sent the corner spinning goalwards and although Sheridan got a slight touch it was not enough as the ball went in off the far post.

Ireland’s early momentum continued with Sinead Farrelly having a shot pushed behind by Sheridan and McCabe skewing off-target as she attempted a low drive.

Canada then started to show some threat as Jordyn Huitema’s firm strike was saved by Courtney Brosnan and Vanessa Gilles passed up a good opportunity, poking over the Irish bar from close range.

Denise O’Sullivan shot over at the other end and a Carusa effort was dealt with by Sheridan before Canada pulled level in time added on prior to the interval when Julia Grosso’s cross was diverted into her own net by Connolly.

There was also time just before the break for a header wide from Gilles as Canada looked to strike another blow.

After Canada boss Bev Priestman, the former England assistant coach, then made a treble substitution at half-time, it took a fine Brosnan save to deny Huitema early in the second half.

And moments later Canada had the lead as Leon prodded in having received the ball from Sophie Schmidt, one of the trio to have come on.

Carusa subsequently headed over before Ireland were on the back foot again, Brosnan making saves from Christine Sinclair, another introduced at half-time, and Huitema.

Ireland’s further efforts to salvage a point included a McCabe shot going wide off a Canada shirt and another being blazed into the stand, and there was also a late shot from distance by substitute Lily Agg caught by Sheridan before the final whistle confirmed their campaign would not go beyond the group stage.

Vera Pauw is “a bit concerned” about Louise Quinn’s fitness as the Republic of Ireland look to put a losing start in the Women’s World Cup behind them against Canada.

A 1-0 defeat against tournament co-hosts Australia in Sydney last week was compounded by Quinn suffering a foot injury, with the defender touch and go to face the Olympic champions in Perth on Wednesday.

She lightly trained on Monday and was put through her paces in their final practice session on Tuesday, but Pauw revealed “plan B is ready” should Quinn unexpectedly fail her fitness test.

“We’re a bit concerned but we think that she can play,” the Ireland head coach told a press conference. “It’s an injury that is not very straightforward and it’s relying on how she reacts (during) training. Plan B is ready.”

The Girls in Green go into their next match knowing a defeat would spell the end of their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages in their historic maiden World Cup campaign.

“Winning starts with not losing,” Pauw said. “If you play a game like this against an Olympic champion, I have to stay realistic but it’s clear that if we want to go through in this group, we need a result.

“If we win, we have it in our own hands. If we have a draw then we depend on other results.

“Canada is a very, very experienced team and they know how to have patience in getting their results. They often get their results in the later stages so that shows they have the trust to keep on going.”

But Kyra Carusa feels Ireland can take heart from their battling performance against Australia, where they rallied after Steph Catley’s second-half penalty without being able to find a way through.

“Those last few minutes of the Australia game did light a fire under us and show this 90-plus minutes that we have in us and the dangers we have in us throughout an entire game,” Carusa said.

“That’s definitely something we take away from that game. We are reliable and have that endurance and longevity to make sure we come up with a result at any minute in the game.”

Republic of Ireland midfielder Denise O’Sullivan has reflected on an “unbelievable” first taste of World Cup football and admitted adrenaline meant she felt no pain during Thursday’s defeat to Australia.

O’Sullivan had been a doubt for their Group B opener after she suffered a soft tissue and bone bruise injury during last week’s warm-up match with Colombia that was cancelled after only 20 minutes.

North Carolina captain O’Sullivan was able to recover in time to play the whole match in front of a record crowd of 75,784 at Stadium Australia and she has talked up the vocal support of the Irish fans even before the narrow 1-0 loss.

“It was sore in the game, but the medical team done a few things to make sure I wasn’t in that much pain. I think honestly the adrenaline was so high I didn’t feel anything,” O’Sullivan told RTE after Ireland’s major tournament debut.

“It was unbelievable. I can’t even describe it. We were in the tunnel waiting to walk out and we could already hear the Irish fans.

“We were just all smiling and looking at each other. It was a moment I will never forget and then walking out.

“Even to do the warm-up, they started singing right away and that’s all you could hear in the stadium, Irish fans. We definitely have the best fans in the world. It was an unbelievable experience for our opening game.”

A 52nd-minute penalty from Australia’s stand-in captain Steph Catley consigned Ireland to an opening defeat, but there were plenty of positives for Vera Pauw’s side who play Olympic champions Canada next on Wednesday in Perth.

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Eighteen-year-old Abbie Larkin was a bright note for the Girls in Green and she has been backed to further shine.

O’Sullivan said of Larkin: “Honestly, no fear. She is a little gem. I have been saying it in training leading up to this game, she is a different player.

“She’s been excellent and coming into the game, it is a lot of pressure for an 18-year-old, your first World Cup game, but she took it in her stride. She came on and was absolutely fantastic so I am really happy for her.”

When O’Sullivan broke through as a teenager in 2011, the state of Irish football was markedly differently but the 29-year-old is delighted with their progress and to finally make her major tournament debut with so many long-serving team-mates.

She added: “It was tough back then. I don’t think we had many resources and facilities or investment as we do right now.

“I would have dreamed to be at a World Cup when I was 18-years-old but it just wasn’t possible back then.

“Always in the back of my mind I did have that belief that some day I would make it to a World Cup and I am just really grateful I am here with this group of players. Some of them I have been playing with for 10 plus years and it is great to be on this journey with them.”

Republic of Ireland international Matt Doherty has completed a return to Wolves on a free transfer.

The defender has signed a three-year deal with the Molineux outfit, after making more than 300 appearances during his first spell at the club.

Doherty left Wolves after a decade of service to sign for Tottenham in 2020 but departed Spurs in January on a free transfer and joined Atletico Madrid on a six-month deal.

After the 31-year-old made only two appearances during his brief stint in Spain, he has now returned to England and will work under Julen Lopetegui.

Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs said: “We’re really happy Matt’s back and he’s one the manager really wanted when he knew he was available.

“After Spurs and Atletico Madrid, he’s hungry to prove himself again and will add strength in depth to the full-back area, providing competition and making us better in those positions.

“He knows the club and what it means to play here – he’s been successful at Wolves before and knows what the fans want.

“For us, it’s another homegrown player, but one who can share his knowledge and the required standards across the group, so he will be able to slot back in no problem.”

Republic of Ireland manager Vera Pauw credited her side’s resilience but lauded Australia’s attacking threats despite the absence of Sam Kerr after their 1-0 defeat to the joint-hosts in the Women’s World Cup.

Steph Catley’s 52nd-minute penalty was enough for the Matildas to overcome a dogged Ireland and get them off to the perfect start in Group B.

The hosts were without captain Kerr, with the Chelsea striker set to miss the next two matches of her home World Cup with a calf injury.

Pauw praised her team’s reaction to going a goal down and their overall performance despite defeat.

“It was impossible to switch play in the first half because they (Australia) did really well but in the second half we found solutions and we made changes to make sure we had control in those areas,” Pauw said.

“We had more opportunism in our play because we needed to score and I think that worked out really well. Abbie (Larkin) and Lucy (Quinn) were fantastic when they came on.

“Sam Kerr is of course one of, if not the top striker in the world so the fact that she did not play was a surprise for us but Australia have so many fast and attacking players that our game plan did not change because of that.

“We had prepared for that (top attacking players) and we had taken all their intentions out to get beyond our defensive line, they were not there once and that’s a huge compliment for our team as that’s what they were aiming for.”

Tony Gustavsson credited Kerr’s leadership off the pitch.

The Matildas manager admitted he did not want Ireland to learn the news of her injury prior to Thursday’s fixture.

“She (Kerr) means a lot for us emotionally, spiritually and with that team spirit for sure and Steph (Catley) as a vice captain, the way those two lead this team is amazing,” Gustavsson said.

“Sam is a massive part of Ireland’s game plan and we didn’t want to give that away in advance but once we come to the stadium we didn’t play any type of mind games, we were honest with the team sheet but we wanted to wait to the last second to not give away too much in tournament football.

“I ask for some understanding with that, I hope it’s OK. It’s obviously devastating for us and the players.”

Steph Catley ensured co-hosts Australia opened their World Cup campaign with a 1-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland despite the absence of star striker Sam Kerr.

Catley’s second-half penalty was enough to clinch three points for the Matildas in front of a record crowd of 75,784 at Stadium Australia in Sydney.

However, they had to do it the hard way after their record goalscorer Kerr was ruled out of the first two Group B games with a calf injury suffered in training.

Vera Pauw’s side, making their debut at a major tournament, made life difficult throughout for a side ranked 10th by FIFA, 12 places above Ireland.

But despite a late flurry, they were unable to get themselves back on level terms and will now turn their attention to next Wednesday’s clash with Canada in Perth.

For Australia, there was relief after three hard-earned points were banked to match the feat of co-hosts New Zealand, who had earlier stunned Group A rivals Norway with a 1-0 victory in Auckland, ahead of their second fixture against Nigeria next Thursday.

Goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan is certain her grandparents would be beaming with pride had they had lived long enough to see her play in the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup debut.

The Girls in Green kick off their campaign against tournament co-hosts Australia at 1100 BST in front of a sold-out crowd at Stadium Australia after demand forced organisers to relocate the meeting to the competition’s largest venue.

The Everton keeper is eligible for the Republic through her paternal grandparents Margaret and Brendan, who were born in Roscommon and Kerry but later emigrated to the United States, where Brosnan was born and raised.

Asked how she balances her dual identities as a New Jersey native pulling on a Republic shirt, Brosnan said: “I think it’s amazing. I feel like it’s really special because I feel like I’m able to learn so much about my family.

“They’ve both passed on now, but I think it’s just amazing for me to see.

“Like I know how close my dad was with them as well, and to be able to play for Ireland and still have that connection to them, even if they’re not here, it’s really hard to put into words how special that is.

“It just gives me an amazing chance to see all the different parts of my family history. They passed away when I was 15, 16, but growing up it was weekend trips all the time, and we were really close.

“They were from a place called Springfield, Massachusetts and they grew up there when they came over from Ireland. They lived in the same house their whole life, so it’s pretty cool.”

Brosnan posted five clean sheets in World Cup qualifiers, and also denied Real Madrid’s Caroline Weir the vital first-half penalty that would have given Scotland a 1-0 lead in their World Cup play-off to decide which team would make the tournament.

Instead, Brosnan’s save allowed substitute Amber Barrett to swoop in after the restart and score, her goal enough to ensure the Republic would win 1-0 and seal the momentous result.

She said: “Me and Amber laugh because people will come up to her and say, ‘Oh, you’re the best goalkeeper I know’ and people will come up to me and say, ‘Oh, what a finish!’ and I’m like, ‘Ok, I know we both have red hair but we are different people!'”

More people will surely tell the difference after the Republic walk out at Stadium Australia to begin the next exciting chapter in their history, before facing Canada and Nigeria to conclude the group stage.

Brosnan added: “I think it’s a really, really special moment that we’re able to take part in.

“This is something we’ve always dreamed of, then there’s the added bonus that you’re playing the host nation, that the crowd’s so big, that this is our first World Cup.

“We’ve discussed really openly about how we know the quality of the group that we’re in and the competition is really fierce. I think that underdog-ness is part of being Irish, that you love that challenge and stepping up, facing a big dog and showing what you’re capable of.

“We’re not just here to take part. This is something we’ve been working for for years and years. We’re doing everything we can to put ourselves in the best position to get results.”

Republic of Ireland forward Amber Barrett hopes her side can draw on the Moroccan men’s example and defy their proudly-worn underdog status at the World Cup.

In October, Barrett was the woman who booked the Girls in Green’s trip to Australia and a maiden global showpiece when she netted the deciding goal with her first touch in the Republic’s 1-0 play-off victory, stunning Scotland at Hampden Park.

The FIFA world number 22-ranked Republic face a tough challenge in Group B, opening their campaign on Thursday at a sold-out Stadium Australia against 10th-placed co-hosts the Matildas before facing Olympic champions Canada, ranked seventh, six days later.

Barrett said: “I went through the World Cup groups a couple of days ago and there’s not really any other group that you’re saying, ‘Oh, I’d love to be in that group’, because all of the groups are difficult.

“At the end of the day you’re at a World Cup, and you’re playing against the 32 best teams in the world. They’ve all qualified for a World Cup. Ranking and all that goes out the window.

“Looking back to the men’s World Cup, it showed, Morocco getting to a semi-final, who would have said that was going to happen pre-tournament?

“I think at this stage, we’re just really, really going to enjoy every moment of it, and it’s football. Anything can happen.”

In Qatar, Morocco surprisingly emerged top of a group that included 2018 finalists Croatia alongside Belgium and Canada.

The Republic wrap up Group B against Nigeria (40th), the top African side in this ninth edition of the Women’s World Cup.

Barrett, whose Milford, County Donegal hometown moved Thursday’s Mass to accommodate the Girls in Green’s 1100 BST kick-off time, imagines it will all truly hit when she is standing on the pitch for the national anthems.

She said: “I think I’m probably going to be very emotional. I think that’s going to be something that really takes everybody.

“We had a referee course a couple of weeks ago, and the referee from FIFA said that when you hear your national anthem for the first time in major tournaments, a World Cup, it’s very, very special.

“I think when we’re standing there singing ‘Amhran na bhFiann’ (‘The Soldier’s Song’) I think that’s really going to be a moment where everyone’s just like, ‘We’re here and we’re ready to go’.”

The 27-year-old is eager to create new history with her side in Australia, but admits her part in getting the Republic here is something that will long linger.

She added: “It’s funny, now we look back and after the game we’ve said we have such a long time to wait until we go to a World Cup and now we’re days away.

“I think it definitely took me a long time to come off that cloud nine, because I think everybody was just, not shocked, but it was just like you were numb for a few days after.

“It was one of those moments that I will happily never, ever forget, but I hope it’s also now one of those that over the next few weeks we make more memories to relive.”

Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe has urged the squad to harness the spirit of the underdog ahead of Thursday’s World Cup opener against Australia.

The World Cup debutants begin their Group B campaign against the co-hosts, who are 12 places above them in the FIFA rankings and will be backed by the majority of the 80,000 crowd at Sydney’s Stadium.

It will be only the second match between the nations but Ireland won 3-2 when they met back in 2021, thanks to a goal from Denise O’Sullivan, who has been declared fit for the fixture.

McCabe, who overcome her own injury scare a fortnight ago, said: “Yeah, it is something as a small nation, you kind of carry that (underdog) title I guess.

“We know we are debutants in the tournament, but we know what we want to do. We don’t want to just be happy to be here.

“We want to compete and give Australia, Canada and Nigeria the hardest games possible. That will start tomorrow night and it is exciting.

“We know what Australia have, they have quality all over the park but we also know what we can do.”

Head coach Vera Pauw referenced their slogan ‘outbelieve’ when looking ahead to playing Australia and insisted they would not buckle under pressure after coming through stern examinations with Sweden, Finland and Scotland to qualify for a first-ever major tournament.

“That word will end up in the dictionary because we outbelieve we can do something special here,” Pauw reiterated.

“That is how we ended up here because we outbelieve and we did something that nobody expected, but we are realistic.

“We are very realistic, otherwise you cannot succeed, but the key thing everybody will feel is we have no fear of failure.

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“We are a team who so far we did not collapse on the higher pressure, whether it was away in a record crowd with Sweden, away with a record crowd in Finland or at Hampden Park and in our stadium with record crowds.”

The Girls in Green only arrived in Sydney this week, but were greeted by floods of Irish fans, with a large community based Down Under.

Arsenal midfielder McCabe added: “It’s crazy to think we’re actually here. We landed only a short while ago in Sydney airport, greeted by a number of Irish fans, so it was really nice to see them there.

“They are our home away from home, I guess and to see the numbers who have travelled, the pictures online of people here in Sydney, is really special.

“I think the whole team feel that. Not just players but staff as well, the support we have from here and back home as well. No doubt we want to do the nation proud tomorrow night.”

Pauw revealed: “We knew there would be fans, but again it is so heart-warming every time the way the Irish are reacting on us. It is not just being there, it is way they are there.”

Meanwhile, Ireland have firmly put their friendly fiasco with Colombia behind them after 101-capped O’Sullivan was confirmed to be fit enough to face Australia.

North Carolina Courage captain O’Sullivan suffered a soft tissue and bone bruise injury during a warm-up match on Friday with the South Americans that was aborted after only 20 minutes due to it being an “overly physical” contest.

But Pauw confirmed: “Denise is fit, she will play.”

McCabe concluded: “For us now it is full focus on Australia. We knew Colombia would be physical but it will be the case in every single game.

“We’re Irish, we don’t shy away from physicality. It is ingrained in us.”

Republic of Ireland midfielder Ruesha Littlejohn believes footballers cannot shy away from the spotlight if they want to escalate the growth of the women’s game.

The 33-year-old is one of 23 women selected by manager Vera Pauw to represent the Republic in their first World Cup, a monumental moment that has drawn unprecedented attention to the team and individual players.

The full World Cup experience comes with corresponding changes off the pitch – more photo shoots and social media followers among them – a fact of life Littlejohn encouraged the players at this Australia and New Zealand-hosted tournament to embrace like England’s Lionesses after their Euro 2022 victory blasted them into their country’s consciousness.

Speaking at the Girls in Green’s team hotel in Brisbane, she said: “It’s full on. The other day we were doing pictures and I was shattered, and I kind of felt sorry for the camera guy because I was just dead tired. Hopefully the pictures look OK.

“But look, this is it, we wanted to be here and now we’re going to need to embrace the change and manage all the way. I’m not a superstar so I think it’s going to be different for me but it could be different for the likes of Denise [O’Sullivan] and Katie [McCabe].

“Look at other teams. Like, you see the Lionesses, how their lives have probably changed massively. It’s probably been a big adjustment for some of them and I’m sure it’s not always easy.

“I’m sure there’s moments where they’re like, ‘oh, leave me be’. Let me go and get a Nandos and leave me in peace please’. But look, that’s where the game’s going and we kind of need to embrace that and learn now to deal and manage situations.”

The effects of England lifting the European trophy last July were keenly felt throughout the following 2022/23 domestic Women’s Super League (WSL) season, which according to a league report saw attendances up 173 per cent compared to the previous campaign.

All but one of the WSL’s 12 sides broke a club or stadium record during a season that also set the three highest attendance records in the English top flight, including the league record 47,367 who turned out for the North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham at the Emirates.

Littlejohn’s side are now just two sleeps away from their World Cup opener, when they will face Group B rivals and tournament co-hosts Australia in Sydney, and says “you know it’s on party mode back home”.

It will be some time before the legacy of the World Cup in the Republic of Ireland crystallises, but ex-Aston Villa player Littlejohn is already starting to notice a shift.

The native Glaswegian, who swapped allegiances through her Irish grandparents after representing Scotland at youth level, added jokingly: “It was the Euros last summer. Obviously deep down I’m gutted that England won.

“I’m just about over it. It was great for the game there, the WSL. It’s only going in one direction and I think the change that they’ve made is massive, and now you can see the change that hopefully we can all make on this world stage.

“It’s just exciting to see. You can even see that, round about the hotel, there’s a few young girls running about with Ireland tops on. I mean I would have never been taken anywhere to a different country to watch a game of football.

“I don’t know how these people are getting to do it, but that’s amazing that there’s so many people tuning in and it’s a reality for people now. This can become a job for you. You can go and do this too if you want to do it.”

Republic of Ireland midfielder Denise O’Sullivan is in a fitness race ahead of her side’s World Cup opener after she sustained a soft tissue and bone bruise injury to her lower leg, manager Vera Pauw has said.

O’Sullivan was taken to hospital after the Republic’s friendly with Colombia on Friday was aborted after 20 minutes due to what the Football Association of Ireland later described in a statement as an “overly physical” contest.

An initial scan revealed the North Carolina Courage captain had not suffered any fractures, but Pauw would not make any predictions about whether or not O’Sullivan would be ready to start against Australia on Thursday night.

Speaking during the Republic’s training session in Brisbane on Monday, Pauw said: “We decided to be completely open about it, I’ve asked her if that was possible and she’s OK with that.

“She’s off the boot and she’s been walking around. She’s going to do the bands now, core stability, then we start to run with her and we see where she is.

“We will only know more after today and then we need to make it step-by-step and we work towards it, and if not it’s not, and if so then everybody is happy I think.

“It’s a soft tissue and bone bruise, so it depends also on how much pain it is and how much she can bear and not getting other injuries with that, but the first thing is can she run on it? And you don’t know until you do it.”

Chloe Mustaki has not fully accustomed to the reality that in just three days she will walk out on the pitch at sold-out Stadium Australia as a member of the first Republic of Ireland squad to feature in a Women’s World Cup.

The 27-year-old’s extraordinary journey to this point has been down a road rife with obstacles, from her cancer diagnosis at the age of 19 to a devastating anterior cruciate ligament injury in 2020 and the lonely Covid-19 lockdown recovery that followed.

But when the Republic’s plane touched down in Australia it all began to crystallise for Bristol City defender Mustaki, who hopes she can tune out the noise of over 80,000 majority-home supporters expected to attend her side’s July 20 opener against World Cup co-hosts the Matildas.

“I don’t think I have an idea of how insane it is going to be,” she admitted during a training session at Brisbane’s Meakin Park.

“I am trying not to think about it too much, trying just to concentrate on the football. At the end of the day, when you walk onto the pitch, everything around you just fades away.

“So, if we can just concentrate and focus and stay connected on the game, whoever is playing on that pitch, hopefully we can come out with the result.

“It will be surreal, and we won’t really believe it until we see it, because it is something that only (captain) Katie (McCabe) and a few others have experienced and we might never experience it again, that amount of people, so we have to savour it.”

Skipper McCabe, who plays her club football with Arsenal, has played big games at major venues like the FA Cup final at Wembley and a Champions League semi-final at the 60,704-seat Emirates, which the Gunners sold out for the first time in May.

Mustaki, on the other hand, reckons the 12,123 who attended the Republic’s World Cup qualifier against Sweden in Gothenburg was the largest crowd to ever watch her play.

She was born in Ohio, USA, but spent most of her youth in Cabinteely, and previously captained the Republic’s Under-19 team that reached the semi-finals of the 2014 European Championship in Norway – where she experienced signs of what would turn out to be Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.

Mustaki completed treatment in 2015, and has previously spoken about how that experience shifted her perspective and helped her get through the devastating ACL injury she sustained in training five years later.

Though she was first called up to Republic’s senior squad that same year, rehabilitating the injury meant it took two more before she finally made her senior international debut against Russia in the 2022 Pinatar Cup.

Mustaki took a huge risk last summer, quitting a comfortable job to become a full-time professional footballer when she signed with Bristol City. It paid off when the Robins earned promotion to the Women’s Super League and she signed a new two-year deal in June.

That dream fulfilled, another is now on the horizon as Mustaki’s side, ranked number 22 in the world, prepare to face two of FIFA’s top-10 nations in Group B, Australia and Canada alongside Nigeria, with the two best finishers advancing to the knockout stage.

She said: “Of course, it is in their home nation, they will have a massive support there and they will have prepared very well for us. It will be a battle but we will be ready for it and we love being the underdogs.”