The U.S. women’s national team will play the Republic of Ireland in a pair of friendlies this spring in Austin, Texas, and St. Louis, Mo., U.S. Soccer announced Thursday. Here’s what you need to know:
- The teams will meet at Q2 Stadium in Austin on April 8 at 2:30 p.m. ET and at the new MLS venue CITYPARK in St. Louis on April 11 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
- The friendlies will be the USWNT’s final international matches before the 23-player World Cup roster is selected later in the spring.
- Ireland qualified for its first-ever World Cup last fall as UEFA’s second play-off winner.
Backstory
April’s contests will mark the 14th and 15th meetings between the USWNT and Ireland, with the U.S. having won all of the previous 13, the last of which came in 2019 at the Rose Bowl.
The April 11 match will be the USWNT’s first at the home of the newest MLS franchise, St. Louis CITY SC, which is the first female majority-owned team in the league.
The announcement comes a day after the USWNT clinched the SheBelieves Cup Trophy with a 2-1 win over Brazil on Wednesday.
Ireland was drawn into World Cup Group B, which features Canada, Nigeria and co-host Australia. Portugal’s qualifying play-off win Wednesday completed the USWNT’s Group E, which also includes Vietnam and the Netherlands.
