Ireland and Arsenal star Katie McCabe sends England warning ahead of Euro 2025 qualifier in Dublin

Ireland host Sarina Wiegman’s team at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Tuesday evening, hoping to build upon a committed, if ultimately fruitless, display in their Group A3 opener against France on Friday.

The Girls in Green sit in 25th place in FIFA’s world rankings with England second, although Arsenal’s McCabe insisted belief was high ahead of an eagerly-anticipated clash for which more than 30,000 tickets have been sold.

The versatile winger told a press conference: “We’re realistic, but in terms of our belief, we always believe we can go and beat anyone on our day.

“We’ve got the quality, we’ve got a world-class goalkeeper (Everton’s Courtney Brosnan), how we set up, the art of defending at times, we’ve shown our quality in how we can attack in previous games throughout the Nations League.

“So it’s about finding the balance and for us against these big teams, these big nations.

“There are only a couple of moments at this level as well, so we just need to make sure we’re on it tomorrow and decisive in those moments.”

Ireland launched their campaign with a 1-0 defeat to France in Metz on Friday evening courtesy of Paris St Germain striker Marie-Antoinette Katoto’s sixth-minute goal, which came after Michelle Lakrar had turned Kenza Dali’s free-kick back across goal.

The hosts dominated for long periods, but Eileen Gleeson’s side passed up a late chance to level in a game played just a day after the death of assistant coach Colin Healy’s wife Kelly.

McCabe said: “Some shift wasn’t it? For us, we knew it was always going to be a difficult task.

“The moment we conceded on the set-piece was very disappointing because normally we’re very good and we’re really strong at that, so that’s obviously something we’re going to be looking at to tidy up.

“We gave it our best, obviously – which we always do when we represent Ireland. All we can do now is take the positives from the game and look to build into England now.”

The Lionesses also endured a disappointing start to their campaign when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Sweden at Wembley with Fridolina Rolfo cancelling out Alessia Russo’s opener.

However, they have won all seven of their previous meetings with the Republic, the last of them a 1-0 friendly victory at Dalymount Park in March 1987.

Glasgow City striker Emily Whelan has been added to the Ireland squad after West Ham’s Jess Ziu was forced to withdraw with a hamstring injury.