The Irish women pushing football forward.

With St Patrick’s Day just behind us, it feels like the perfect moment to turn the spotlight to Ireland. Women’s football in the country is experiencing a surge of momentum. For decades the sport existed on the margins, but a new generation of players is helping push it into the mainstream, not just through results, but through visibility, personality and impact. From record-breaking goals to historic World Cup moments, these athletes aren’t simply representing Ireland; they’re helping reshape what Irish sporting icons look like.

Courtney Brosnan

Goalkeepers rarely dominate headlines, but Courtney Brosnan has already written herself into Irish football history. In October 2022, Ireland faced Scotland in the World Cup play-off final. With a place at the country’s first ever Women’s World Cup on the line, Brosnan saved a crucial penalty to help secure a 1–0 victory. The moment sealed Ireland’s qualification for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand and instantly became one of the defining moments in the national team’s history.

At club level, Brosnan plays for Everton in the WSL, where she has quietly built a reputation as one of the league’s most reliable shot-stoppers. You also may remember her from her iconic game in December 2025 when Everton stunned Chelsea 1–0, ending the champions’ remarkable 34-game unbeaten run in the league. Brosnan kept a clean sheet under relentless pressure and was named Player of the Match after a string of key saves helped secure the upset.

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Chloe Mustaki

Chloe Mustaki’s career has never followed the straightforward arc most young footballers imagine for themselves. At 19, just as she was beginning to establish herself as one of Ireland’s most promising defenders, Mustaki was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a form of blood cancer. Football, which had structured most of her life up to that point, suddenly had to step aside while she underwent months of treatment. Before her diagnosis, Mustaki had already captained Ireland’s under-19 side to the semi-finals of the UEFA Women’s Under-19 Championship in 2014, one of the most successful youth campaigns the country had produced. 

Returning to football after cancer meant rebuilding that career piece by piece. She did exactly that, carving out a professional path that has taken her across European football, with spells in France and England, while continuing to represent Ireland at senior level. Now playing club football with Nottingham Forest Women, Mustaki has re-established herself as a dependable presence in defence. In a squad often defined by resilience, Chloe’s story is proof that even the most difficult setbacks don’t have to be the end of a career.

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Abbie Larkin

While players like McCabe helped build the current moment, Abbie Larkin represents what comes next. Born in 2005, the Dublin forward made her senior international debut at just 16 years old, becoming one of the youngest players ever to represent Ireland. She announced herself with her first international goal during a 9–0 World Cup qualifying win over Georgia in 2022.

Now playing for Crystal Palace Women, Larkin has already accumulated more than 30 international caps before turning 21.

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You know her, you love her… it’s Katie McCabe

If Irish women’s football has a defining face right now, it’s Katie McCabe. The Ireland captain has earned more than 100 international caps and scored over 30 goals for her country, an impressive return for a player who technically operates as a wing-back (though watching her for Ireland, you could be forgiven for thinking she plays every position at once).

Her most iconic moment came at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, when she scored Ireland’s first ever goal in the tournament by curling a corner directly into the net against Olympic champions Canada, a rare olímpico that instantly went viral.

At club level with Arsenal, McCabe has spent nearly a decade competing at the highest level of European football, winning the FA Cup in 2016, the 2018–19 WSL, three League Cups, and the Champions League. But it’s her leadership style that defines her, fierce, emotional, unapologetically competitive (and sometimes a little chaotic), McCabe has become the embodiment of Ireland’s rise on the international stage.

Sport Ireland