Nations League playoff, 2nd leg: Belgium 2 [Wullaert 33, 40] Republic of Ireland 1 [Larkin 90] [Ireland won 5-4 on agg)
In the end, Abbie Larkin did a serious impression of Katie McCabe as the 20-year-old Dubliner’s 90th-minute goal decided this Nations League playoff to relegate Belgium.
Surprised by a poor clearance from Laura Deloose, Larkin mis-hit her first touch before reacting quickest to dink a finish over Belgian goalkeeper Nicky Evrard.
“Oh God, honestly, a last-minute winner is one of the best feelings I’ve ever had,” said Larkin. “We fought through everything, we are Irish so we never give up. I started crying and had to refocus. Blew a kiss to my mam!”
The McCabe impression? Larkin finished off injury-time by dribbling the ball to the corner flag to show off rare skill and strength.
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The result means that Ireland will compete with the likes of Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain, England and Sweden next year and will be fourth seeds in next Tuesday’s Nations League A draw.
“Abbie’s doing really well at Crystal Palace,” said McCabe. “She has been around us for a while now – I get goosebumps even thinking about the goal.”
The added bonus, in terms of qualifying for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil, is that Carla Ward’s team will now have a seeded playoff no matter how they fare against the bigger football nations.
The initial mystery was how Belgium allowed Ireland to take a 4-1 lead in Dublin last Friday night. “I didn’t recognise my team,” said Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir, their Icelandic head coach.
The obvious reason is the class of McCabe, who scored twice at the Aviva Stadium and created the other two.
The Belgians responded in kind as Tessa Wullaert lit up the Den Dreef stadium with two first-half strikes to erase the 4-2 advantage Ireland brought to Leuven.
Wullaert’s first was a superb team goal. Five slick one-touch passes were completed by the Inter Milan forward stroking the ball beyond Grace Moloney.
From a Belgian perspective, it was a flawless advertisement of technical football. From an Irish perspective, it showcased familiar failings under Ward as midfield was overrun by a quick interchange between Deloose and Jarne Teulings.
Ruesha Littlejohn, who is unable to train on her Achilles tendon, saw the danger but lacked the pace to intervene. McCabe also attempted to intercept Deloose’s cross, wrongly tracking Jill Janssens’s diagonal run into the box only to leave Wullaert unmarked.
Wullaert’s second, six minutes before the break, goes down as an Irish gift. Deloose’s long ball was pure speculation but Caitlin Hayes’s timid clearance invited the striker to lob her 97th international goal over the stranded Moloney. The goalkeeper’s angry reaction suggested that her centre half misheard the call.
Ireland actually had an earlier chance when Aoife Mannion’s volley was denied by several bodies. But at 2-0, it seemed like Belgium would retain their Nations League A status at a canter.
Ward reacted at half-time by replacing Littlejohn with Anna Patten, who had missed the first leg through suspension. Really, the Aston Villa defender should not have missed a second of this second leg, especially with Denise O’Sullivan struggling for match fitness.
Belgium targeted O’Sullivan and McCabe with several studs on ankle challenges. Tuelings and Wullaert were duly booked by French referee Stéphanie Frappart for cutting down Ireland’s dynamic duo.
The second incident, when Wullaert hacked McCabe, prompted Marissa Sheva and then Hayes to body into and enrage the Belgian captain.
Cooler heads barely prevailed.
McCabe rose to the occasion of her 100th cap, doing the usual defensive duties at left wing back and floating forward whenever possible.
Remarkably, as Belgium went into their shell for large periods of the second half, Ireland had chances to reclaim the lead. Emily Murphy’s weak shot drew a save from Evrard and Larkin dragged a shot wide of the far post after a flick on by Hayes gave the substitute her first match-winning opportunity.
Kyra Carusa could have, and probably should have, settled this tense tie with three minutes remaining but after O’Sullivan’s clever pass, the San Diego Wave woman was denied by Evrard.
Extra-time was calling until Larkin’s 90th-minute dink.
BELGIUM: Evrard; Kees (Wijnants, 90), Tysiak (Missipo, 66), Mertens, Deloose (Van Kerkhoven, 90); Janssens, Vanhaevemaet, Cayman; Detruyer, Wullaert, Teulings (Toloba, 84).
IRELAND: Moloney; Mannion, Stapleton, Hayes, Mustaki, McCabe; Sheva, Littlejohn [Patten, 46], O’Sullivan (Quinn, 90); Murphy (Larkin, 60), Carusa.
Referee: S Frappart (France).
