Above: The Republic of Ireland celebrate after Abbie Larkin’s late goal to see them defeat Belgium 5-4 on aggregate. Photo: via RTE
By Alyce Collett (31/10/2025)
It has been exactly the international window that the Republic of Ireland could have asked for, winning their UEFA Nations League playoff against Belgium to earn re promotion back to League A ahead of next year’s World Cup qualifiers.
After outclassing Belgium in the first leg of the tie to lead 4-2 heading into Tuesday night’s second tie, the Irish fought off a strong first half challenge from the Red Flames to find a last-second tie winning goal via Abbie Larkin.
The win is significant for a number of factors.
It sees the Irish back in League A of the Nations League in 2026, which will serve as the qualifiers for the World Cup in 2027. Being in League A means a significantly easier path to qualifying for the World Cup because every single League A side is guaranteed at bare minimum a play off berth, which is not guaranteed in League B.
Not only this, but the Irish are the first side in League B to ever win a League A/B playoff match.
With all of this in mind, the question cannot helped be raised – is this a turning point for the Republic of Ireland?
2025 has been a far from straight forward year for the Girls in Green.
After a tough but admirable first campaign in League A in 2024, 2025 saw a return to League B and a new manager at the helm in former Aston Villa manager Carla Ward.
Things did not go as easily this time around in the second tier, and as such the Irish found themselves finishing second in their group behind Slovenia. Perhaps it was partially because the team was adapting to a new game style, perhaps it was partially it was the mental effects of not making the Euros and having to take on League B sides again, but the Republic of Ireland side of 2025 was not the class of the 2024 side that was going toe to toe with some of the best sides of the continent.
But that was all flipped on its head this international window, where the Irish played more like they did in 2024 and got the reward on the scoreboard.
The Irish have finally found the game plan system that works best for both players and coach, everyone is humming to the same tune again and perhaps the rest of the continent’s best have been put on notice a little.
There was a lot of talk after last year’s Euros play off about how much the loss had affected the Irish girls mentally.
But by not only beating Belgium, but beating them the way they did, will give the team a lot of confidence that they do deserve to be competing amongst the continent’s best, and that the Wales games were a mere bump on the team’s developmental journey.
As successful as this window was for the Irish, it also gave the team important lessons that they will need to heed upon their return to League A in the new year. These include lessons in structure – both at the front and back of the outfield formation – and around the team’s resilience.
Although it is not the situation the Irish would have wanted to be in – they would have no doubt preferred to have earned promotion to League A automatically – the way that this international break turned out for the team may be more beneficial in the long run than playing friendlies like they would have if it was them that had topped the group and not Slovenia.
Now onto the next window…
There is one more international window left in 2025, and who the Republic of Ireland end up playing in is window is important as they build up to a really important year in 2026.
It is crucial that the Republic of Ireland secures some friendlies against top tier opponents to help prepare the side for the level of opposition they will face in the World Cup qualifiers.
With the way the UEFA Nations League works these days, there really are not a lot of windows of opportunity to make these friendlies happen, so the opportunity needs to be really taken advantage off when it comes along.
A lot of the big teams have already confirmed who they are playing in November/December – including the United States, England and Australia – but teams like the Netherlands have not, so there are options.
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