From changing in airports to the World Cup, Ireland have come a long way

Vera Pauw's groundbreaking team have forced change for women's football in Ireland

For the Republic of Ireland, the 2023 Women’s World Cup has been 50 years in-the-making.

The Girls In Green played their first official international match in 1973, but had never qualified for a major tournament until October last year when they punched their ticket to Australia and New Zealand. 

Not so long ago, Irish women’s soccer was in bad shape. As recently as 2017, the Girls In Green were in open revolt against their own national association.

They refused to train and even sat out a match to highlight poor treatment towards the women’s national team by the FA of Ireland (FAI). That, unfortunately, isn’t a terribly unique story in the women’s game - see Canada, the USA and other similar struggles. 

Now, though, the Republic of Ireland are ready to make an impact at the top level. They have forced change and the appearance of Vera Pauw’s team Down Under will both be the culmination of a period of change and the start of a new era.

What more could they achieve?