by Alyce Collett (8/10/26)
Above: Marissa Sheva (right, hugging #21) and Denise O’Sullivan (#10) will be sorely missed from the Republic of Ireland’s starting midfield tomorrow against Kazakhstan, but who may be the ones to replace them? Photo: Brian Lawless/PA.
This window sees the beginning of an important what will hopefully be quartet of matches for the Republic of Ireland to round out 2026 and the team’s quest to qualify for a second consecutive World Cup.
That quest begins tomorrow in the Kazakh capital Astana as the Girls in Green set to do battle with world number 100 Kazakhstan in a two leg tie in round one of UEFA’s World Cup playoffs.
These kind of potentially lopsided ties – the Irish are 21st in the world rankings and are unlikely to be troubled by the Kazakhs – do not normally lend themselves to many intriguing questions in the build up as the result is much easier to predict than other matches.
However, the Irish do have one area of intrigue for fans heading into particularly tomorrow’s match – how will manager Carla Ward fill the gaps in her starting line up left by missing key stars, particularly in the midfield.
What is the problem facing Carla Ward?
Of the big names missing from the Republic of Ireland squad for this first match of the tie, the highest number of them are midfielders.
Marissa Sheva and Denise O’Sullivan are both core members of the starting line up for the Girls in Green these days under Ward. However, Sheva will be missing this first leg due to suspension and O’Sullivan did not travel to Astana for reasons of player welfare.
This means that there is two spots to fill in what is normally a three person midfield in the starting line up, with those incoming likely to team up in front of Megan Connolly who is expected to play her usual defensive midfield role.
What would have likely been will not be
Recent history would have suggested that Jess Ziu would have been one of the ones to fill one of those available spots in the starting line up as she has been the one that Ward has regularly gone to as an impact substitution off the bench.
However, just in the last 24 hours or so the Leicester City star has been ruled out of at least leg one with injury, and may also be ruled out of the return leg in Cork next week, so this means that it will not be her that starts tomorrow afternoon.
Is a Burnley star the key to replacing O’Sullivan?
O’Sullivan is the kind of player that is nye on impossible to fully replace. Her leadership and experience combined with the way she plays the game and the impact she has on those around her means that when she is not in the side it is quite noticeable.
However, there is one player in the Irish squad for this window that may be able to play a similar role to the legendary Leesider.
Tyler Toland has had a rocky few years in terms of establishing a settled place in Irish squads and getting minutes on the field at international level, but likes to play football in much the same way as O’Sullivan.
Both players are tough, no nonsense players who are not afraid to break open the midfield in their team’s favour, and with the way that proceedings become much easier with that type of player on the pitch, that could work in Toland’s favour.
Would Ward really include an uncapped player in the starting line up?
Among the midfielders in the Irish squad for this window are a pair of uncapped players – Watford’s Aoibheann Clancy and Shanade Hopcroft from Crystal Palace.
Both players are worthy of their places in the squad, but putting an uncapped player into your starting line up is unheard of these days, so it is unlikely that the spots will be filled by either of them.
However if game one goes to plan or is going swimmingly by perhaps halfway through the second half, there is no reason to rule out either of them getting some minutes off the bench.
What about Jamie Finn and Lucy Quinn?
All of this leaves two more potential options – Jamie Finn and Lucy Quinn.
Finn has been getting some solid minutes for her club side Burnley in the first part of the Women’s Super League 2 (WSL2) season – playing just about every minute possible thus far – but she has not got any minutes at international level this year despite being in the game day squad for every game.
However this is the first window since the beginning of the current WSL2 season so that previous history at international level may prove to not be a precedent after all.
Quinn meanwhile has also been getting good minutes for Sheffield United – officially only one more than Finn – but when it comes to international level she does not play a midfield role despite being officially listed as a midfield on squad announcements from the FAI. She normally plays as an outside wing alongside players like Kyra Carusa and Emily Murphy, but with those two and the likes of Abbie Larkin having a firm grip on the starting positions in the front line, perhaps a position change to a central attacking midfielder behind Carusa could a role for Quinn to fill.
In conclusion…
There are plenty of potential answers, and not a lot of time left to find out which way Ward will go. Ward has kept her cards very close to her chest, so only time will tell what decision she will end up making.
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