THE REPUBLIC OF Ireland women’s national team will face the United States in an international friendly double-header in June.

Both games against the world number one will take place Stateside, with the first fixture on Thursday, 26 June in Denver, Colorado, and the second on Sunday, 29 June, in Cincinnati.

There, Carla Ward will be reunited with USA maestro Emma Hayes: the Ireland boss worked on Hayes’ staff as the Americans won gold at the the Olympic Games last summer.

The sides have previously met 15 times, most recently in the run-up to the 2023 World Cup when Vera Pauw’s Ireland were defeated 2-0 and 1-0 in Austin, Texas and St Louis, Missouri.

“We are looking forward to these two games against the best international team in women’s football as they will provide the kind of challenge that we need to expose our players to more often,” said Ward.

“As we continue to work on further developing our squad, these games will allow us the opportunity to put some of our work into practice in what will be two intense games that we will learn a lot from.”

USA are four-time World Cup winners, triumphing most recently in 2019 before a Round of 16 exit at the hands of Sweden in 2023. Hayes is expecting two tough tests in June.

“Ireland is one of the most difficult European teams to play against, so I’m happy we could get these games,” said Hayes. “We need to play teams that will push us and create an environment where our players have to solve problems and play under pressure.

“We’re still early in our process of building towards World Cup qualifying for ’27 and we still have a lot of growth to go as a team and as individuals, so these summer matches at these great soccer venues will once again provide a platform for the players to show their abilities to excel at a high level.”

These friendlies follow the Uefa Nations League group stages, which Ireland resume next week with a double-header against Greece. Ward is due to name her squad for those games tomorrow morning.

International Friendlies

USA v Ireland

Thursday, 26 June

Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colorado

KO 7.07pm (local time), 1.07am (Irish time)

USA v Ireland

Sunday, 29 June

TQL Stadium, Cincinnati

KO 3:07pm (local time), 7.07pm (Irish time)