Republic of Ireland make an impact with Katie McCabe and Women’s World Cup debutants want to follow suit
The Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand is set to be a tournament of many firsts.
Just one day in and we've already see the Football Ferns claim a first ever win at the event in 16 attempts.
And for eight nations, this will be their first opportunity to compete on the World Cup stage.
So who are the countries making their debuts over the next few days down under? talkSPORT.com takes a look.
Republic of Ireland — FIFA World ranking: 22
Player to watch: Katie McCabe
Ireland’s football made the headlines even before the tournament began after their warm-up friendly against Colombia was called off mid-game due to excessive rough play.
Over 75,000 were then in attendance for Ireland’s first ever World Cup match against hosts Australia, which they narrowly lost 1-0 thanks to a penalty from Steph Catley.
But Ireland still have a chance to make it out of the group stage at their very first tournament and there was much to be optimistic about for Ireland in their first game.
Captain Katie McCabe was tireless on the pitch and created a number of chances for Ireland who ultimately failed to find the net.
Haiti — FIFA World ranking: 53
Player to watch: Melchie Dumornay
Haiti’s journey against a backdrop of strife has been nothing short of inspirational — the country is currently embroiled in gang violence and the population is still reeling from devastating earthquakes which killed hundreds of thousands in 2010 and 2021.
The President of the Haitian Football Federation was also handed a lifetime ban by FIFA in 2020 for alleged harassment and sexual abuse of underage female footballers, which was then overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
FIFA have since filed a complaint against this ruling.
Amidst all this, the
Read on talksport.com
