Ireland to face Georgia in Euros play-off semi-final

The Republic of Ireland have been drawn to face Georgia in the Women’s Euro 2025 play-off semi-finals.

Eileen Gleeson’s team are likely to travel to Tbilisi for the first leg on Friday 25 October, before welcoming their opponents to Irish soil for the return leg the following Tuesday.

The Georgians are ranked 119th in the world, while Ireland are 25th. The countries met in 2023 World Cup qualification, with Ireland winning 11-0 in Tallaght and then 9-0 in Gori.

If Ireland get past Georgia, they will face either Slovakia or Wales in the two-legged final which would be played on Friday 29 November and Tuesday 3 December, with Ireland again at home for the second leg.

Slovakia are ranked 50th in the world with an improving Welsh outfit 31st. In February, they impressively defeated Ireland 2-0 in a friendly at Tallaght Stadium.

“The target for us since last year, when we started with the UEFA Nations League, was always to qualify for Euro 2025; this is the next part of that,” said Gleeson after the draw.

“We will take confidence from our win over France in Cork but also from each of our six performances in the group stage. It is important that we improve with each game if we are to compete at the top level of women’s football. And we will be ready for these play-offs.”

The Girls in Green finished bottom of their qualification group but were always guaranteed a place in the play-offs having been promoted to the top-tier League A after a successful UEFA Nations League campaign.

An excellent 3-1 win against France at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in their final qualifier on Tuesday guaranteed seeded status for the play-offs.

Northern Ireland, meanwhile, will take on Croatia in their Round 1 play-off. If they get through that, Tanya Oxtoby’s charges would meet either Albania or Norway in the final.

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