COYGIG!

History will be made today as the Republic of Ireland makes its FIFA Women’s World Cup debut against co-hosts Australia in front of over 80,000 fans.

The Girls in Green will be looking to cause an upset on the tournament’s opening day against the in-form Matildas who have won 5 of their last 6 games, including wins against Spain, England, and France.

The tie kicks off at 11am Irish time at the tournament’s flagship venue, Stadium Australia, where the final will be held on 20 August. Today’s game was originally set to take place at a smaller venue but was moved due to overwhelming ticket demand.

Cork players Megan Connolly and Denise O'Sullivan will be in action for Ireland over the coming weeks in what is the biggest stand-alone women’s sporting event in history. Brighton-born midfielder Lily Agg's grandmother hails from Cobh too.

There was good news in the Irish camp this week with Denise O'Sullivan looking to be on track to start against Australia today after being injured during a 'friendly' match against Columbia in Brisbane last week. The match was abandoned shortly afterwards due to a series of rough challenges and overly aggressive play. O'Sullivan was sent to hospital to have a scan on her shin which showed some soft tissue damage, however, she began light training again on Monday and Denise’s sister Sinead has since confirmed to the Cork Independent that the midfielder is 100% fit for today’s match. See page 2 for more.

Captaining Australia will be superstar Chelsea FC striker Sam Kerr who could have ended up playing for Ireland in another life. Kerr’s grandfather Harry Regan was born in Cork in 1931 and emigrated to Australia where he met Kerr’s grandmother who is descended from English immigrants.

Kerr was an avid Aussie Rules player until she reluctantly took up football at the age of 12. She has scored close to 90 goals in just over 100 appearances at club level, and 63 times in 116 appearances for her country.

Group B

The Irish women will have their work cut out for them in what is sure to be a hard-fought Group B, with matches against Canada on Wednesday and Nigeria the following Monday. Canada beat Australia twice in the AFF Women’s Championship last year, however, recent poor results against USA, Japan, and France will give Ireland confidence going into the tie. Nigeria are coming off the back of 3 good wins on the trot against Costs Rica, Haiti, and World Cup co-hosts New Zealand who they beat 0-3 in April.

The group stage will run until 3 August and will see group winners and runners up progress to the round of 16 which runs from 5-8 August. Quarter finals will be played on 11 and 12 August, semi finals on 15 and 16 August, and the final on 20 August.

All 64 games will be covered live on RTÉ.