The Republic of Ireland are set to face Australia in an international friendly later this month, the FAI confirmed today.
The first meeting between the countries will take place at Tallaght Stadium on 21 September at 7pm and it will be live on RTÉ2. The fixture will come hot on the heels of Ireland's opening World Cup 2023 qualifier against Georgia four days earlier.
The visitors to west Dublin are ranked 11th in the world and just missed out on a medal at the Olympic Games, finishing fourth. Their squad should contain a host of Super League stars including Chelsea's Sam Kerr, Manchester City's Alanna Kennedy as well as Arsenal trio, and team mates of Irish skipper Katie McCabe, Lydia Willians, Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord.
They're just the second side from the Oceania region to face Ireland, following on from a game against New Zealand in 2014.
The fixture will see the return of supporters with the government confirming this week that crowds of 75% of a venue's capacity are allowed at outdoor events from Monday, as long as everyone is vaccinated.
This would allow for around 6,000 supporters at Tallaght, although the record crowd for a home women's fixture is 5,328, who saw the team beat Ukraine in October 2019.
"We are excited by this opportunity to play against such a top quality opponent in Australia," said Ireland manager Vera Pauw.
"Especially in front of our own supporters who we will welcome back to Tallaght Stadium for the first time in 18 months
"This game continues our approach to taking on games that will bring the best out in us, following on from our recent friendly games against Denmark, Belgium and Iceland. We learned a lot from those games and will be aiming to do the same against Australia, who are one of the best teams in women's football.
"Our focus is on qualifying for the 2023 FIFA World Cup, so getting to test ourselves against a team like Australia will surely benefit us ahead of playing the top two seeds in our group in October, in Sweden and Finland. We will start, however, away to Georgia and that is where our focus is right now."
