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20th Jul 2023

Ireland vs Australia: Team news, TV details and everything you need to know about Women’s World Cup opener

Robert Redmond

The Girls in Green begin their World Cup campaign on Thursday morning.

The Republic of Ireland take on Australia in the Fifa Women’s World Cup on Thursday morning (11 am Irish time).

Vera Pauw’s team, in their first appearance at the finals, face the co-hosts in front of over 82,000 spectators in Sydney. You can follow the match live in our hub below, where we will have updates about team news, big talking points and player ratings.

Click on the key point you want to read about, or just keep scrolling to see updates in our live hub.

Ireland vs Australia.

Ireland are the underdogs in the Group B match against the co-hosts. Australia are ranked 10th in the world and have Sam Kerr, one of the sport’s best strikers, in their squad.

Kerr has scored 63 goals in 120 games for the Matildas, and the Chelsea striker could pose plenty of problems against Ireland on Thursday.

Pauw’s side, however, will be no pushovers. In their qualification campaign, Ireland conceded just four goals.

In the last match between the two teams – a friendly at Tallaght Stadium in September 2021 – Ireland emerged victorious with a 3-2 win over Australia.

Ireland vs Australia: Where will the match be played?

The game will be played at Stadium Australia in Sydney, with 82,500 spectators in attendance.

There are no injury concerns for Ireland. Denise O’Sullivan was treated for a shin injury following an abandoned match against Colombia last Friday.

The midfielder, however, has overcome that injury scare and should be fit to start against Australia.

Ireland vs Australia: How can I watch and stream the match?

In Ireland, RTÉ will have live coverage of the Fifa Women’s World Cup, with all 64 games due to be shown by the broadcaster.

The match kicks off at 11 am on Thursday morning, with coverage beginning at 10:30 am on RTÉ 2. The same channel will also show highlights of the game at 8 pm on Thursday evening.

You will also be able to stream the game live on the RTÉ Player.

In the UK, ITV 1 will have coverage of the game.

You can watch our preview of the Fifa Women’s World Cup with Stephanie Zambra and Alan Cawley below.

And you can check out our interview with the Irish women’s team record goal scorer Olivia O’Toole here.

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