What Euro 2025 has taught Ireland about Belgium ahead of October's Nations League play-off tie

RTÉ News​

2 days ago

October has been marked down in the calendar for quite some time for the Republic of Ireland.
After finishing second in their UEFA Women's Nations League group, the Girls in Green were guaranteed a promotion/relegation play-off against a League A team and out of the hat came Belgium.
Since the draw was made, Ireland have played world number one USA twice, losing 4-0 back-to-back in Colorado and Cincinnati late last month.
Belgium, meanwhile, were busy featuring at the ongoing Euro 2025 and their group in Switzerland was particularly tricky.
A 1-0 loss to Italy got them off on the wrong foot, before their elimination was confirmed following an entertaining and high-scoring defeat to World Cup holders and tournament favourites Spain.
However, they finished on a high note with a 2-1 win over Portugal. So with that in mind, what can Ireland take from the Belgians' performances at the European Championships ahead of October's two-legged showdown?
"Obviously the first game (against Italy) was disappointing for them and when we were watching it, we were kind of thinking, 'We're not miles off this' and we could even beat them," Shelbourne midfielder and former Ireland international Rachel Graham told this week's .
"Against Spain, it's obviously a big task for them and they're not going to set up against us how they set up against Spain. You're just going to do your best to keep Spain out.
"And (Belgium) did get two goals against Spain and they're a big threat from setpieces. (Justine) Vanhaevermaet I think is six-foot-one. With the retirement of Louise Quinn, I don't think there's anybody who's going to really challenge her in the air, so that's going to be something that's going to be difficult for us."
Graham added that the tournament will also have allowed the Belgians to gel together further and the final group game victory over Portugal showed another facet of the threat they will pose.
"It was a much better showing than what they had shown in the first two games," she said of a side spearheaded by Inter Milan striker Tessa Wullaert.
"It's probably when I was watching thinking, 'God, we do have a tough game against us now in October'.
"They looked good when they were breaking away on the counter-attack. That's where we've looked a bit vulnerable in our recent few games, so definitely an area where we need to tidy up on especially now our back four has chopped and changed a bit and we still don't have an out-and-out right back which could prove to be an issue again in October."