Ireland to face Poland after Kazakhstan win

Ireland trounced Kazakhstan in the second leg of their Women's World Cup Qualification playoff, taking a comfortable 4-0 win in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Tuesday night.

The girls in green came away with a 12-0 win on aggregate, having already firmly defeated their Central Asian opposition in Astana.

Ireland faced a Kazakh team still rattled from an earlier defeat, and spent almost the entire game in the visitor's half as they refused to move out of their defensive position.

Despite this, two goals in the first half from Jessica Stapleton and Katie McCabe put Ireland comfortably in the lead at half time.

Another two after the break from Lucy Quinn and Cork hero Denise O'Sullivan gave them the victory with over 15 minutes left to spare.

While the Cork game was a foregone conclusion, the same cannot be said for Ireland's opponents in the next round of the playoffs.

Poland came out on top after a length fight with Belgium, taking the win on penalties after a 3-3 draw.

The Poles will be a serious threat to Ireland with Barcelona striker Ewa Pajor sparkling against the Belgians up front.

Manager Carla Ward said that she was proud of the players, ten of whom scored across two legs.

"These players are a joy to work with. It's been a challenging camp in terms of travel and logistics, but they've put a real shift in."

She said that the team are taking their campaign one game at a time rather than thinking about Brazil next year.

"We have to focus on the next game, which is away, then bring it back to the Aviva and get the job done," she said.

Ireland will play Poland in Gdańsk on 1 December, and in Dublin on 5 December.