Belgium fans came out in force to support their Red Flames at the King Power at Den Dreef stadium in Leuven and the noisy home support kept the decibels high for the entire 90 minutes, with the symphony of trumpets and tambourines sure to stick in heads for days to come.
It was an environment that the Republic of Ireland's Cailtin Hayes described as "hostile" in her side's 5-4 aggregate win over the Red Flames on their home turf, but admits it's something she appreciates.
"Sometimes it's a very hostile environment to play away, and that's something that can take you by surprise as well. This crowd today were great. They were loud and they were proud, but thankfully we shut them up," Hayes told RTÉ Sport.
"We've got one half of the stand over there going home very happy and that's the most important to us."
The home fans certainly had plenty to shout about, until the final 20 minutes.
Before that the Red Flames were firmly in the driving seat, with captain Tessa Wullaert finding the net twice, and levelling the aggregate score before the close of the first half.
34mins: 🇧🇪 1-0 🇮🇪
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) October 28, 2025
Wullaert with loads of space gets a crossed ball and calmy slots into the bottom left corner for Belgium.
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Many would have expected to see Anna Patten get the nod in Carla Ward's defensive line-up, but Hayes was rewarded for her performance in the first leg in Dublin.
Inches away from getting a head on a looping free-kick from Katie McCabe into the box in the third minute, she explained that the occasion may have played a part in the below-par first-half performance.
"I think sometimes you get caught in the occasion and you let the occasion play you rather than just play the game, and I think we lost that a little, we lost our identity.
"The sign of a great team is a team that can pull themselves back out of a dark place, which it was at the first half, but we went in at half-time and we said we were unrecognisable.
"We went back to what we know, and we just ground it out... And we worked hard for each other.
"The fighting Irish never lay down and we showed that today in abundance."
3mins: 🇧🇪 0-0 🇮🇪
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) October 28, 2025
Early opportunity for Ireland. McCabe whips a perfect ball into the danger zone but Hayes can't get a head on it.
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With 30 minutes left to play and the score over the two legs at 4-4, extra time was looking increasingly likely, but Hayes said she felt the goal coming.
"I know you're all going to say this now, 'of course you're saying that', but at not one point (did I think that).
"I knew the goal was coming, I knew there were ample opportunities, I had a few myself where we could have taken it in a far less dramatic fashion, but I'll let Abbie have her moment, she rightfully deserves it and maybe next time I'll be willing her to score a bit earlier!"
