The Canadian Premier League is proud to be part of the Guardian’s Women’s World Cup 2023 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organizations from the 32 countries who qualified.
The Republic of Ireland player profiles were written by Mary Hannigan, who writes for the Irish Times.
GROUP B SQUAD PROFILES: Canada || Nigeria || Republic of Ireland || Australia
Goalkeepers
1. Courtney Brosnan
Date of birth: November 10, 1995
Place of birth: Millburn, New Jersey
Club: Everton
Caps: 21
It took the U.S.-born Brosnan a while to establish herself as Ireland’s first-choice goalkeeper, but an excellent 2022, during which she kept seven clean sheets in nine games, saw her nail down the position. The highlight came at Hampden Park when she saved Caroline Weir’s penalty, helping Ireland to a 1-0 win and qualification for the World Cup. Before then, her career high was probably when she signed for Everton, following in the path of her fellow New Jersey-born goalkeeper, Tim Howard. “I idolised him as a kid,” she said. After a successful college career with Syracuse, Brosnan headed to Europe, having spells in France and with West Ham before joining Everton. She turned down a United States under-23 call-up having already been a regular in Irish age-group teams, qualifying through her grandparents.
16. Grace Moloney
Date of birth: March 1, 1993
Place of birth: Slough, England
Club: Reading
Caps: 6
It has been a rough few months for Slough-born Moloney who found herself at the centre of the controversy surrounding Ireland’s dressing room celebrations after they qualified for the World Cup. She had filmed the scenes of the players singing “Ooh ah, up the Ra”, a chant associated with support for the IRA. Ireland were fined €20,000 by UEFA and Moloney went into exile for a spell at Reading. Come the end of May, they were relegated from the WSL after seven years in the top flight. It is seven years since Moloney made her debut for Ireland, having starred at underage level, but she has won fewer than 10 caps in that time.
23. Megan Walsh
Date of birth: November 12, 1994
Place of birth: Bromsgrove, England
Club: Unattached (most recently Brighton & Hove Albion)
Caps: 1
Footballing highs and lows? Walsh could write the book. May 2022: She was named Brighton’s player of the season. May 2023: The club announced that she was being released. The Bromsgrove native featured for England at every age-group level up to under-23, featuring in the same squad as Aoife Mannion for the 2014 U-20 World Cup, but after failing to earn a senior call-up, she switched allegiances to the Republic of Ireland in 2021. But that’s been a frustrating trip too, the 28-year-old so far winning just one cap.
Defenders
2. Claire O’Riordan
Date of birth: October 12, 1994
Place of birth: Newcastle West, Ireland
Club: Celtic
Caps: 17
Another sporting all-rounder who played Gaelic football and camogie for Limerick before a successful spell with Wexford Youths, during which she won three league titles, earned her a move to Duisburg in the Bundesliga. After four years in Germany she signed for Celtic last summer, scoring in their Scottish Cup final victory over Rangers. The central defender has made just three appearances under Vera Pauw at the time of writing.
3. Chloe Mustaki
Date of birth: July 29, 1995
Place of birth: Lima, Ohio
Club: Bristol City
Caps: 5
When Mustaki moved from Irish champions Shelbourne to Bristol City last summer, she was leaving behind part-time football and a job with a recruitment firm – and taking a 50 per cent pay cut in the process. “But you’re only young once, it was now or never,” she said. It has worked out nicely – City won promotion to the WSL in May and Mustaki was rewarded with a new contract. But she was due a change in fortunes. Back in 2014, when she was captain of the Irish under-19 team, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, her recovery taking close to two years. “When I got the all-clear, I was just high on life.” And then in March 2020 she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament, which kept her out of action for another 18 months, while a groin problem saw her miss most of the second half of her club’s season. If ever anyone deserved a break it is her.
4. Louise Quinn
Date of birth: June 17, 1990
Place of birth: Blessington, Ireland
Club: Birmingham City
Caps: 103
Since being called up to the Irish U-17 squad when she was just 14, Quinn has been a permanent fixture on the international scene. She got her first taste of professional football when she joined Eskilstuna in Sweden 10 years ago, among her challenges learning to cope with frozen eyelashes while training in temperatures close to -20 Celsius. She survived, going on to play for Arsenal, where she won the 2019 WSL title, and Fiorentina in Serie A, before joining Birmingham, where she is captain. Dabbled with Gaelic football, hockey and athletics before focusing on football, winning her 100th cap last year. Always a threat in the air from set-pieces, only Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan have scored more goals for the current national team manager.
5. Niamh Fahey
Date of birth: October 13, 1987
Place of birth: Galway, Ireland
Club: Liverpool
Caps: 106
It was 15 years ago that Arsenal played Ireland in a friendly, after which two Irish players were offered contracts by the club. Fahey accepted hers, but her teammate declined. She had, after all, other sporting options. The teammate was Katie Taylor, the Olympic gold-winning, world lightweight boxing champion. Fahey was an all-rounder too. At just 16 she was in the Galway team that won its first – and so far only – all-Ireland Gaelic football title, before going on to rack up a mountain of medals during her six years with Arsenal. After spells with Chelsea and Bordeaux, she joined Liverpool in 2018 where she has been captain ever since. At 35, she is the squad’s elder stateswoman, a three-time Irish player of the year who won her 100th cap last year.
7. Diane Caldwell
Date of birth: September 11, 1988
Place of birth: Balbriggan, Ireland
Club: Reading
Caps: 95
She may not have toured the world quite as much as her fellow Mount Temple Comprehensive alumni U2, but the 34-year-old Dubliner has done her fair share of travelling, playing in five different countries since completing her scholarship at New York’s Hofstra University. Her quirkiest stopover came back in 2011 when she played for Thor/KA in a small whaling coastal town in northern Iceland. “It was some change from New York,” as she put it. She went on to spend four years in the Bundesliga before brief spells with North Carolina Courage and Manchester United. She was in and out of the Reading side that was relegated this season, and, for a while, fell out of favour with the national manager after 17 years of being a mainstay in the Irish defence. Closing in on her 100th cap.
13. Aine O’Gorman
Date of birth: May 13, 1989
Place of birth: Wicklow, Ireland
Club: Shamrock Rovers
Caps: 117
The third-most-capped Republic of Ireland player of all time, and often the Irish league’s only representative in the side. The 34-year-old largely plays up front for her club, and has been the top scorer in the Irish league for the past three seasons, but usually appears on the right of defence or midfield for Ireland. She and her wife, Rachel Neary, became parents for the first time last year and they plan on bringing young James to Australia. “He won’t remember Oz, but we’ll show him pictures when he’s older. I’d like him to look back on these times and be proud of me.”
14. Heather Payne
Date of birth: January 26, 2000
Place of birth: Ballinasloe, Ireland
Club: Florida State University
Caps: 34
Niamh Farrelly described Payne as “half horse, half human” after one of her typically tireless performances for Ireland, the Roscommon woman possessing an engine like few others. Mind you, despite being the niece of former champion jockey Tommy Carmody, horses never featured in her sporting life, her youth occupied by Gaelic football, camogie, volleyball, basketball, swimming, athletics and rugby – until she settled on football. She is in the final year of her scholarship at Florida State University, from where she will graduate with a degree in dietetics. Just one goal in 24 appearances for Vera Pauw at the time of writing, most of them playing up front, leaves her admirers feeling she’s better suited in midfield or at wingback.
22. Izzy Atkinson
Date of birth: July 17, 2001
Place of birth: Rush, Ireland
Club: West Ham United
Caps: 4
Very few — if any — World Cup squad-predictors saw Atkinson’s selection coming, the West Ham player having only played 45 minutes in Vera Pauw’s first 29 games in charge before starting June’s friendly against Zambia. She wasn’t even in the initial squad for that game, being brought in as a ‘training player’. But she impressed at left wingback and with Megan Campbell ruled out through injury, Pauw needed cover for the position — and Atkinson persuaded her she was up for the job. She had a successful season with Celtic, scoring the winner in the 2022 Scottish Cup final, before joining West Ham in the Women’s Super League last summer.
GROUP B TEAM GUIDES: Canada || Nigeria || Republic of Ireland || Australia
Midfielders
6. Megan Connolly
Date of birth: March 7, 1997
Place of birth: Cork, Ireland
Club: Unattached (most recently Brighton & Hove Albion)
Caps: 38
Since her debut seven years ago there has been ample proof that Connolly is a warrior, but she went above and beyond when she played the full 90 minutes with fractured ribs and a lacerated kidney in a critical win against Finland last year. The Cork player, who can play in midfield or at the back, was a key figure in Florida State University’s NCAA triumph in the final year of her scholarship, her form earning her a slot in the midfield of the All-American team of the year, alongside US internationals Rose Lavelle and Andi Sullivan as well as Canada’s Ashley Lawrence. She moved to Brighton in 2019 but parted company with the club in May. It would not be a surprise to see her pop up at another WSL club next season.
8. Ruesha Littlejohn
Date of birth: July 3, 1990
Place of birth: Glasgow, Scotland
Club: Unattached (most recently Aston Villa)
Caps: 71
Glasgow-born Littlejohn played for Scotland at youth level but declared for Ireland after failing to see eye to eye with then senior manager Anna Signeul. “She wasn’t a fan of mine – I think she thought I had too much carry on, a little personality.” If you’re one of her 13,000 subscribers on YouTube – or Rue Tube, as she calls her vlogging channel – you’ll know that she has an abundance of personality. She’s had close to 20 moves during her club career and after being released by Aston Villa at the end of a season ruined by injury, she is on the hunt for new employers again. Has 71 Irish caps at the time of writing.
10. Denise O’Sullivan
Date of birth: February 4, 1994
Place of birth: Cork, Ireland
Club: North Carolina Courage
Caps: 101
Since her debut in 2011, the Cork woman – whose idol was, naturally enough, local hero Roy Keane – has been the driving creative force from midfield for Ireland, averaging close to a goal every third game for Vera Pauw and almost as many assists – none more valuable than the one that set up Amber Barrett’s winner against Scotland in the World Cup qualifying play-off. She is well-travelled too, having had stints with Glasgow City and loan spells in Australia and the WSL with Brighton, but North Carolina Courage, where she is captain, has been her main home since joining from Houston Dash in 2017 – she’s won the NWSL title with them twice. “She is one of the best midfielders in the world,” said Pauw, and she doesn’t hand out such plaudits lightly.
11. Katie McCabe
Date of birth: September 21, 1995
Place of birth: Kilnamanagh, Ireland
Club: Arsenal
Caps: 72
The undoubted face of Irish women’s football, it’s simply impossible to overstate the value of the Dubliner to this Republic of Ireland team, which she has captained since she was 21. The stats say it all: at the time of going to press she is the only player to have appeared in every game under Vera Pauw, and out of the 49 goals Ireland have scored in that time, 11 are hers, as are 11 assists. Good going for someone who often plays at left-back or left wingback – although, just like at Arsenal, she’s played close to everywhere for her country. Was included in the Champions League team of the season in June and won the WSL goal of the season for her stunner against Manchester City in April.
12. Lily Agg
Date of birth: December 17, 1993
Place of birth: Brighton, England
Club: London City Lionesses
Caps: 7
Represented England from U-15 up to U-19 level but had to turn down her first Irish call-up from Vera Pauw: “I thanked her, said I’d be honoured, but told her I’d just fractured a bone in my knee.” Her debut eventually came in June of last year and she has become an established member of the squad since. With an eye to the future, the Brighton-born PE teacher has also lectured in trading and investments, has an interest in cryptocurrencies and “things that hopefully make your money work for you rather than just sitting in the bank”. A useful teammate, then.
15. Lucy Quinn
Date of birth: September 29, 1993
Place of birth: Southampton, England
Club: Birmingham City
Caps: 14
It’s just as well for Quinn that the 2017 Euro Beach Soccer Cup in Portugal wasn’t a FIFA-affiliated event, otherwise her efforts to switch allegiances to the Republic of Ireland might have been scuppered. She’s an attacking midfielder-cum-forward these days, but back then it was her goalkeeping that helped England win the Beach Soccer crown in the same year she and now Irish teammates Megan Walsh and Lily Agg represented Britain at the World University Games. Southampton-born, Quinn made her Ireland debut in September 2021.
17. Sinead Farrelly
Date of birth: November 16, 1989
Place of birth: Havertown, Pennsylvania
Club: Gotham FC
Caps: 1
There’ll be no shortage of remarkable stories at this World Cup, but Farrelly’s is like no other. Until April of this year she hadn’t played competitive football since 2015, but then in the space of a week she returned to action for Gotham FC in the NWSL and made her debut for Ireland against the United States, the country of her birth. “It’s like riding a bike, it came back to me,” she said. It was in 2021 that she went public with her allegations of sexual coercion and harassment against her former coach Paul Riley, prompting his lifetime ban from the NWSL and an investigation that unearthed widespread sexual abuse and misconduct by coaches in the league. Farrelly, who qualifies for Ireland through her father, represented the United States all the way up to U-23 level. “We were waiting on a player like Sinead,” said Pauw after her debut, when she reminded anyone who had forgotten what a composed and gifted midfielder she is.
21. Ciara Grant
Date of birth: June 11, 1993
Place of birth: Letterkenny, Ireland
Club: Hearts
Caps: 17
Having made her debut for Ireland at 19, the Donegal player shifted focus to her medical studies, graduating from University College Dublin in 2017. So jammed was her working schedule by then, she assumed her footballing days were done. But the former Gaelic footballer, who now plays for Hearts, was brought back into the squad in 2021 after returning to club football. “At 19, I was just going with the flow – now it means so much more to me,” she said. Grant has kept her place in the squad since, but has won just two caps in that time.
Forwards
9. Amber Barrett
Date of birth: January 16, 1996
Place of birth: Milford, Ireland
Club: Turbine Potsdam
Caps: 35
Scored the goal against Scotland that got the team to the World Cup, eloquently dedicating the most exhilarating moment of her career to the 10 people who had died in Creeslough four days before in an explosion at a petrol station. The Donegal village was the home of her grandparents. On the club front, she has struggled for game time at Turbine Potsdam, their campaign ending with relegation from the Bundesliga after 26 years in the top flight of German football.
18. Kyra Carusa
Date of birth: November 14, 1995
Place of birth: San Diego, California
Club: London City Lionesses
Caps: 11
When she began studying human biology at Stanford University in California, Carusa’s career plan was straightforward enough: she’d enjoy playing football there, but would focus on “becoming a doctor and all that jazz”. But she could not stop scoring goals, ending up with offers to play in Europe. Her most successful spell was with HB Køge, despite once asking: “Could I even pick Denmark out on a map?” She couldn’t, but she had a happy time of it there, winning two league titles and a player of the year award. San Diego-born, and a former United States U-23 international, Carusa qualified for Ireland through her grandparents, making her debut in March 2020. She moved from Denmark to England in February of this year when she joined London City Lionesses.
19. Abbie Larkin
Date of birth: April 27, 2005
Place of birth: Dublin, Ireland
Club: Shamrock Rovers
Caps: 7
When she was just 16 Larkin needed her parents’ and school’s permission to bunk off to make her debut for Ireland, putting her second behind Tyler Toland in the list of Ireland’s youngest ever senior internationals. Yet another member of the squad who played Gaelic football in her earlier days, she is regarded as one of the most gifted young players in the Irish league, her ambition to play in the WSL one day. With her post-playing days in mind, the 18-year-old has already started doing her coaching badges.
20. Marissa Sheva
Date of birth: April 22, 1997
Place of birth: Sellersville, Pennsylvania
Club: Washington Spirit
Caps: 3
Another former United States youth international who came into the Irish fold after they had qualified for the World Cup, although it was last summer that Sheva had first made Vera Pauw aware that she was eligible, thanks to her Tyrone and Donegal grandparents. She was a gifted runner in her Pennsylvania State University days and that pace has been evident in her opening appearances for Ireland when she played on both wings. She is also an option at wingback. With a degree in security risk analysis, she should know when it’s safe to venture forward. Had a brief spell in Spain but is now playing with Washington Spirit in the NWSL.
For team previews and squad profiles for the other three teams in Group B, click here.