Gavin Cooney reports from Stade Saint-Symphorien, Metz

IRELAND MANAGER EILEEN Gleeson says her side have to be “realistic” as they begin their daunting Euro 2025 qualifying campaign against France in Metz tomorrow night [KO 8.10pm; Live on RTE Two.] 

Ireland have been landed in a ludicrously tough group, with all three of their opponents – France, England, and Sweden – in the top six of Fifa’s world rankings. They do, at least, have the safety net of a play-off secured via their Nations League finish should the group shake out as expected. 

Gleeson admits her side have to be realistic and to prepare for a significant minority of possession. 

“Yeah, we’ve be totally realistic”, Gleeson told reporters at the Stade Saint-Symphorien. 

“We expect that they’ll have more of the ball than us so what we have to do is be super prepared to be out of possession and to do that well. But the moments that we do transition, we have to be as clinical as we can be and exploit the spaces that we can in those moments.” 

While Ireland are outsiders, Gleeson insists her side are here to win. 

“We are coming here to compete and to try and win the game”, said Gleeson, “to affect the game in whatever way we can. That has to be the starting point, we are coming to win the game. I know it is a challenge , it will be a difficult task given the quality of the opposition but you can’t start way back, because you will drop down further. So we talk about competing and we talk about trying to win the game.

“This is where we are, this is where we want to be. This is the draw we got. In terms of Irish women’s football, it is super important to be consistent and to sustain consistent qualification into major tournaments and this is a step along that process. We had our first World Cup but we don’t want it to stop there, we want to continue, want to qualify for more.” 

Though French manager Herve Renard is leaving after the Olympics to get back into the men’s game ahead of the 2026 World Cup, Gleeson doesn’t believe France will be suffering from any distractions. 

“I think they will manage their distractions”, said Gleeson, “they have impressed, they are third in the world and I am not expecting their performance to be reflective of any disruptions or distractions.” 

Given Renard is stepping away to return to the men’s game, it would have been remiss of the travelling Irish press not to ask him about our long-vacant men’s job. Renard smiled and said he hasn’t received any contact from the FAI. 

“I am only interested about tomorrow. No [contact from the FAI], but every week some people will find a new destination for me.” 

Renard gave the impression he regretted speaking about his future, which sucked up many of the questions at the press conference. He insisted that it is not distracting him or his team. 

“Everyone is focused on the game, every game is important”, said Renard, then expressing his desire to win the game by saying, “if I ever have to play a game against you journalists, I will want to beat you.” 

Marc Canham, who is leading the recruitment of the new head coach, is with the Irish squad in Metz. 

Ireland last played France at Tallaght Stadium before last summer’s World Cup, a game in which they were easily beaten 3-0. 

“They have really developed since we played them in Tallaght for the preparation match before the World Cup”, said Gleeson of tomorrow’s opponents. “They have impressed through their World Cup campaign, the same in last Nations League campaign – finalists in League A – and Olympic qualification.” 

Niamh Fahey has been ruled out of the game, but Ireland have no fresh injury concerns. Megan Campbell sat out today’s training session but is available for selection. New recruit Anna Patten is in contention to make her debut, with the crowd for tomorrow’s game forecast to be around 18,000.