More than 10,000 tickets have been told for the Republic of Ireland WNT eagerly anticipated game with France at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
The Girls in Green will face Les Bleues on Leeside on Tuesday 16th of July with kick-off set for 6pm.
A strong Cork contingent has been assembled for the fixture, with the group including key players Denise O’Sullivan and Megan Connolly.
Cork City captain Eva Mangan has also been summoned for international duty after first appearing with the senior squad for a double header against Sweden.
Kyra Carusa, whose grandfather hails from Macroom, is included alongside Lily Agg, who has family in Cobh.
The Girls in Green will go into this game at the bottom of their Euro 2025 qualifying group, and they need a result to ensure a high seeding for the play-off draw.
This is the first visit of a senior Republic of Ireland team since the men visited Turner’s Cross for a friendly with Belarus in 2016 before the European Championship.
The visitors won 2-1 in front of a sold out crowd, with Stephen Ward scoring into the Shed End.
The Girls in Green used to regularly play matches in Cork until Tallaght Stadium was designated as their home venue.
That changed in 2023 after the Women’s World Cup.
The national team played Northern Ireland at the Aviva last September and this was followed by fixtures with England and Sweden during Euro 2025 qualifying at the venue built on Lansdowne Road.
The game with France will be the first ever competitive soccer match staged at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
The sport was first played at the venue in 2018 as part of a tribute match to Liam Miller.
The Girls in Green playing at the venue will be their seventh time playing in the Rebel County.
According to the FAI, Ireland will have played 117 games between their last visit to Cork in June 2012 and this Group A3 qualifier. It will also be the third time that Ireland will have hosted France in the county following games in Turner’s Cross in 1994 and 2011.
The fixture was originally meant to be staged in Dublin but various factors, such as the possibility of Shamrock Rovers progressing in the UEFA Champions League, meant the venue was unavailable.
The Republic of Ireland have staged a number of internationals in Cork since 2020, starting with an U17 Euro qualifying tournament.
This was followed by a visit of the U21s for a friendly with Iceland, and the success of that game meant their Euro 2025 qualifiers were moved to Cork.
This renewed relationship also saw Colin Healy take up a coaching role with the WNT.
The Ballincollig native has worked with Eileen Gleeson since 2023, and he stood on the sidelines as the team went undefeated during their Women’s Nations League campaign.
The Girls in Green took all the points available for them and that ensured promotion to League A, and a play-off spot for the 2025 European Championship.
The WNT has never played at the Euros.
The closest they got to qualification was a play-off spot for the 2009 edition of the tournament and the team was soundly beaten by Iceland.
The team fell short in their hopes of playing in England in 2022 as they lost their final two qualifiers round Ukraine and Germany.
The failure fuelled their run to the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which marked the first time that a women’s national team played at a major international tournament.
Ireland WNT Squad:
C Brosnan (Everton), G Moloney (London City Lionesses), S Whitehouse (Lewes)
J Stapleton (West Ham United), D Caldwell (FC Zurich), L Quinn (Birmingham City), N Fahey (Liverpool), C Hayes (Celtic), A Mannion (Manchester United), A Patten (Aston Villa), M Campbell (London City Lionesses)
K McCabe (Arsenal), D O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), M Connolly (Bristol City), L Agg (Birmingham City), R Littlejohn (London City Lionesses), T Toland (Blackburn Rovers), J Ziu (West Ham United), I Atkinson (Crystal Palace), E Mangan (Cork City), J Russell (Galway United)
A Barrett (Standard Liege), L Kiernan (Liverpool), A Larkin (Crystal Palace), E Murphy (Wake Forest University), M Sheva (Portland Thorns)
UEFA Euro 2025 Qualifier Group A3: England v Ireland, Friday July 12 Carrow Road, 8pm, RTÉ 2; Ireland v France, Tuesday July 16, Supervalu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 6pm, RTÉ 2.