US women to face Republic of Ireland in pre-World Cup games

Defending World Cup champions will host debutante Irish in April friendlies

MIAMI:

The United States women's team will face the Republic of Ireland in two games in April as part of their build up for the women's World Cup.

The Americans, the defending World Cup champions, will host the Irish in Austin and St. Louis in the final games before both teams will need to name their World Cup squads.

The women's World Cup will be held in July in New Zealand and Australia.

"Ireland is a highly motivated, hard-working team that has talented players with big hearts who I know are really excited to be representing their country in a World Cup," said U.S.  head coach VlatkoAndonovski.

"The two games will be a great test at a crucial time in our team's run to the World Cup. While there will be plenty of league games for us to watch after April, these will be the final matches for our players with the national team before we have to pick the World Cup roster, so they will carry that importance," he added.

The U.S is enjoying a good run of form in 2023 having won both games on a mini-tour of New Zealand and then all three matches in this month's SheBelieves Cup.

The Americans beat Brazil 2-1 on Wednesday to win their fourth straight SheBelieves Cup after also defeating Olympic champions Canada and Japan.

Striker Mallory Swanson has been in electric form scoring in six matches in a row.

The Irish women will be playing in the World Cup for the first time