Euro 2025 qualifiers: Gleeson's Ireland drawn with England, France and Sweden
Eileen Gleeson's Republic of Ireland have been drawn to face France, Sweden and holders England in League A of the Euro 2025 qualifiers.
It will be seen as an extremely tough draw, given the opposition all find themselves in the top five of the current FIFA world rankings.
Gleeson's squad will start their qualifying campaign in April before competing in further qualifiers in May/June and July.
The draw for the 2025 showpiece took place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland today, with Ireland - stationed in pot 4 - drawn to play the stiff opposition from pots 1, 2 and 3. The top two from each group will automatically qualify for the finals.
Having secured promotion from Nations League Group B, Ireland were guaranteed a tough draw, but even a last-place finish in the four-strong group will seal them a play-off semi-final berth.
Gleeson, giving her reaction, said: "This is the hardest draw Ireland have ever been placed into. I saw that in the auditorium – the relief on the faces of some coaches.
"Everybody in the group is of the same opinion – I’ve just spoken with the England manager Sarina Wiegman – but England were hoping to avoid us as fourth seeds.
"Any of those teams can take points off each other so maybe there won’t be a runaway winner."
Ireland midfielder Denise O'Sullivan has insisted that this type of draw comes with the territory they have been trying to reach.
We wanted to be here, now we are. Let’s have it
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