Australia vs Ireland results: FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 - july 20th, 2023
Australia defeat gutsy Republic of Ireland
Australia 1-0 Republic of Ireland | Group B
Goalscorers: Steph Catley (P) (52')
Played at Dtadium Australia, Sydney / Gadigal on Thursday, July 20, 2023
The Matildas overcame Ireland 1-0 in the Group B curtain-raiser without Sam Kerr.
- Co-hosts without Sam Kerr following late injury announcement
- Steph Catley scores decisive second-half penalty
- Australia win opening match for only the second time
Australia began their FIFA Women's World Cup™ campaign with a 1-0 victory over Republic of Ireland, following in the footsteps of fellow co-hosts New Zealand, who took down Norway earlier in the day.
Steph Catley scored from the penalty spot shortly after half-time to secure a vital Group B win for the Matildas.
Match review
A fairly cagey first half saw Australia, whose star striker Sam Kerr was missing through injury, largely reduced to chances from set pieces, as a well-drilled Irish defence held firm on their global finals debut.
Ireland captain Katie McCabe’s full-blooded battle with Hayley Raso defined a combative first-half in which the Matildas' best chance came from a Katrina Gorry pot-shot from range.
It took the co-hosts just six minutes to break Ireland’s resistance after the break. Raso was clumsily pushed over by Marissa Sheva in the box - giving Steph Catley the chance smash home the opener from the spot.
The Girls in Green responded by making attacking changes to try and rescue a result, but were unable to break through a defence that coach Tony Gustavsson shored up by introducing veteran Clare Polkinghorne in the final stages.
Megan Connolly's late free kick hit the roof of Australia's net, and McCabe's last-second chance was scuffed towards goal, but after a hard-fought 96 minutes, the final whistle went to the delight of the Sydney crowd.
Key stat
Catley's goal was Australia's 39th at a Women's World Cup and their first-ever from the penalty spot in tournament history (excluding shootouts).
Meanwhile, Australia's shot-stopper Arnold was the most picked goalkeeper (62%) for Daily Fantasy on the opening matchday.
VISA Player of the Match
Steph Catley (Australia)
Quotes
"[The penalty] was a big moment. I’ve been practising a lot, and I do like taking set pieces.
I took a deep breath and luckily it went in. I think you could see [the anxiety]. We were nervy and probably didn’t play as calmly as we normally do. But to be fair, Ireland were fantastic. They put us under pressure, they won corners, they played their game really, really well. There were some nervy moments we’ll look to clean up.
Steph Catley, Australia goalscorer
"I think the second half showed a better account of ourselves and we'll look to bring the positives from today into the second game against Canada."
Katie McCabe, Ireland captain
fifa.com
