SAN DIEGO (May 22, 2024) – San Diego Wave FC announced today that forward Kyra Carusa will join the Republic of Ireland for the final round of group play for the 2024 Women’s European Qualifiers.
The Republic of Ireland is currently fourth in Group A3 following a 1-0 loss to France and a 2-0 loss to England in April of this year. The Republic of Ireland will now take on Sweden, who currently sit in third in Group A3, in back-back matches in this final round of group play ahead of knock-out rounds in July.
Ireland’s matches with Sweden will take place on Friday, May 31 at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland at 11:30 a.m. PT and on Tuesday, June 4 at 9:30 a.m. PT at Friends Arena in Solna, Sweden.
On the international stage, Carusa has started in 11 of her 16 appearances with her national team, most recently starting in both European qualifier matches in April, logging a total of 129 minutes across the two matches. The 28-year-old made her first appearance with Ireland in the EURO 2022 qualifiers. Since joining the senior team, the San Diego native helped Ireland qualify for the World Cup for the first time ever and has scored two international goals.
About the European Qualifiers
The European Qualifiers are composed of a league stage and final tournament play-offs, where the league stage splits teams into three leagues: League A with 16 teams, League B with 16 teams, and League C with 19 teams. Each team’s starting league position is determined based on the results of the Nations League. Teams compete in groups of four or three teams (League C) and over six matchdays, with each team playing one home match and one away match against all the other teams in their group.
The ultimate goals of this phase are to qualify for the UEFA Women’s EURO (or the FIFA Women’s World Cup) and to be positioned as high as possible in the league system for the next cycle. The European Qualifiers ranking at the end of the league stage determines three main outcomes: who qualifies directly for the final tournament, who goes into the play-offs for the final tournament, and what starting league position teams will have in the upcoming Nations League. Depending on the league standings, teams will either maintain their position in the league or be automatically promoted or relegated.
The full Ireland roster and more information can be found here
