Teenage Bohemians midfielder Aoibhe Brennan has earned her first call-up to the Republic of Ireland senior squad for their World Cup 2027 qualifying double-header against Poland in April.
The 18-year-old has featured for the Republic of Ireland at under-19 level and has had an impressive start to the Premier Division season with Dublin club Bohs.
“I’ve spoken about her a few times sine I’ve taken over and in a development game in February last year she really impressed me and I remember walking away and saying to the staff she’s someone I really like and I’ve watched her a lot since,” manager Carla Ward said.
“She does the basics very well and plays beyond her years and I’m really interested to see how she’ll do in this environment.”
There are returns to the squad for West Ham’s Jess Ziu and Durham’s Lily Agg, who is included for the first time since 2024 after recovering from a serious knee injury, although Ward did confirm she and Jessie Stapleton will go for scans on Monday after knocks picked up playing for their club sides at the weekend.
Hayley Nolan and Jamie Finn are not included in Ward’s 24-strong contingent.
The Irish will travel to Gdansk to take on Poland on Tuesday, 14 April before they host the same opponents at the Aviva Stadium four days later.
Ward’s side are of bottom of Group A2 after falling to narrow defeats against France and the Netherlands in their opening two qualifiers and she believes Poland will provide a stern test with Barcelona forward Ewa Pajor leading the line.
“They’ve really progressed in recent years and have been one of the most progressive nations with the ball in my opinion and they’re very aggressive in transition.
“You have Pajor who scored a brace against Real Madrid midweek and was outstanding. She is someone we have to stop, but they have quality everywhere and it would be naïve to think this is a given we have to earn the right to play and win the game.”