Ireland beat Georgia in front of record crowd to progress to Euro 2025 play-off final

Emma Duffy Reports from Tallaght Stadium

Uefa Euro 2025 qualifying play-off round one, second leg

Republic of Ireland 3 

Georgia 0

(Ireland win 9-0 on aggregate)

IRELAND MOVED ANOTHER step closer to their first European Championships after defeating Georgia 3-0 in front of a record crowd at Tallaght Stadium tonight.

The result of the opening play-off was never in doubt, 9-0 the aggregate scoreline, and Eileen Gleeson’s side now face Wales to decide who qualifies for Euro 2025.

Their Cardiff clash against Slovakia went to extra-time to determine which side would face Ireland in a the two-legged play-off final on 29 November and 3 December. Jess Fishlock put Wales ahead on 46 minutes with Ceri Holland clinching the winner in extra-time to overturn a first-leg deficit.

In Dublin, Player of the Match Julie-Ann Russell, Kyra Carusa and Katie McCabe scored the goals as 8,745 fans watched on. The FAI announced yesterday that all tickets had been sold, but the attendance fell short of Tallaght’s 10,300 capacity.

This wasn’t a goal rush against the Eastern European minnows like Friday’s first leg, or 11-0 and 9-0 in 2023 World Cup qualifying, but it was another comfortable win — and should have been by a wider margin. McCabe missed a penalty, for one, amidst a largely stop-start non-event.

Gleeson said she would field strong XI and rotate thereafter. She made three changes: Number one goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan came back in for Grace Moloney after serving her suspension, Jessie Stapleton replaced Tyler Toland — at risk of one herself on a yellow card — as the holding midfielder, and Marissa Sheva got the nod ahead of Lily Agg after her impressive cameo in Tbilisi. 

Ireland stuck with a 3-5-2 formation, captain McCabe starting in the front two with Carusa, and Russell wide left. Georgia, meanwhile, made two switches as Nino Bukhrikidze and Teona Bakradze returned from suspension.

Ireland’s team bus was delayed, but they had no such issues through one-way traffic from the off. Gleeson called for ruthlessness and urgency pre-match – it took them 36 minutes to break the deadlock in Tbilisi – and that messaged carried through early doors anyway.

There was less than three minutes on the clock when Russell opened the scoring: the Galway United star smashed home a rebound after Sheva’s initial shot was saved, with McCabe and Carusa prominent in the build-up. Russell did her trademark celebration, a wave for her 18-month-old daughter Rosie as she brought her tally to three goals in four games.

Ireland’s Julie-Ann Russell celebrates scoring the first goal of the game. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

The hosts started the second leg much brighter, moving the ball quicker, sustaining pressure and creating chances, while Russell and McCabe had penalty calls waved on after going down in the box. They had to be patient again as Geogria sat in a back five and frustrated them on and off the ball; some flying challenges going in throughout a physical encounter.

The second goal arrived just after the half-hour mark, Carusa again on the scoresheet after Anna Patten’s direct delivery and Stapleton’s deft back-heeled assist:

Ireland lead Georgia 2-0, with Kyra Carusa finding the back of the net following a delightful flick from Jessie Stapleton.

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It should have been three moments later, but McCabe blasted a penalty over the bar. “That’s bad,” the Arsenal star reacted to her miss, Carusa having won the spot kick after an over-zealous challenge from Mariam Kalandadze.

The remainder of the first half was disjoined, from Irish lapses in concentration to argy-bargy in the Georgian box. The hosts went close just before the break: Stapleton’s initial shot stopped and Russell firing the follow-up just wide.

Agg was the only change on the restart, replacing Aoife Mannion as Stapleton dropped to the middle of the back three. The scrappiness — and Irish penalty calls — continued into the second period, but a moment of quality got the Girls In Green on the sheet again.

McCabe made amends for her penalty miss with a 55th-minute pile-driver, linking up with Denise O’Sullivan from a corner and catching Georgia on the hop:

Katie McCabe puts her earlier penalty miss behind her to give Ireland a 3-0 lead over Georgia.

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Georgia responded with their first — and only — shot on target, Bakradze running at the Irish defence and drawing a comfortable claim from Brosnan.

Referee Katalin Kulcsár let a lot go, to say the least, as Ireland huffed and puffed but Georgia dug in and held firm.

Gleeson called for wide duo Heather Payne and Izzy Atkinson, and striker Leanne Kiernan, from the bench. McCabe made way for the latter, handing the armband to O’Sullivan as she departed to a huge reception.

There was little else to cheer about down the home straight bar Ellen Molloy’s international return — she almost marked it with a goal — as the game petered out.  

Job done. Onto the big one against Wales.

IRELAND: Courtney Brosnan; Aoife Mannion (Lily Agg HT), Caitlin Hayes, Anna Patten; Abbie Larkin (Izzy Atkinson 58), Marissa Sheva, Jessie Stapleton, Denise O’Sullivan, Julie-Ann Russell (Ellen Molloy 83); Katie McCabe (Leanne Kiernan 72), Kyra Carusa (Heather Payne 58)

GEORGIA: Tatia Gabunia; Gvantsa Kadagishvil, Mariam Kalandadze, Salome Gasviani; Sopiko Narsia, Natia Danelia, Nino Bukhrikize; Irina Khaburdzania (Tinatin Ambalia 60), Teona Bakradze (Maiko Bebia 60), Ana Cheminava ((Nino Pasikashvilli 88). 

Referee: Katalin Kulcsár (Hungary).