Ireland are facing a difficult road to the 2023 World Cup after today’s qualifying draw.
Vera Pauw’s side were third seeds and have been drawn against Sweden, Finland, Slovakia and Georgia in Group A, with the fixtures to be confirmed later today.
The group winners will qualify automatically for the finals in Australia and New Zealand while the runners-up will contest the playoffs.
Sweden, ranked fifth in the world, are the hot favourites to top the group having qualified for every women’s World Cup since its inception.
Finland - who are 24th in the world rankings - are a solid force having reached four of the last five European Championships. Slovakia and Georgia are ranked 46th and 126th in the world respectively.
Ireland boss Pauw said: "It's not a bad draw but it could be better. Sweden are a very strong team but our aim is to get the runner-up position.
"Sweden were in a dip between 2010 and 2015 but now they're completely at the top again. Finland are strong but they're not unbeatable and we'll see what we can do against them.
"We're also a team that's going up and we'll be doing our best. We've fantastic players and a draw that makes me think we can do something.
"Slovakia and Georgia are ranked below us so we should be able to get points there. We've continuity in this group which we didn't have before and continuity is one of the key aspects for success."
Northern Ireland, who recently qualified for the Euros, have drawn England, Austria, North Macedonia, Latvia and Luxembourg.
WORLD CUP QUALIFYING DRAW
Group A: Sweden, Finland, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Georgia
Group B: Spain, Scotland, Ukraine, Hungary, Faroe Islands
Group C: Netherlands, Iceland, Czech Republic, Belarus, Cyprus
Group D: England, Austria, Northern Ireland, North Macedonia, Latvia, Luxembourg
Group E: Denmark, Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Azerbaijan, Malta, Montenegro
Group F: Norway, Belgium, Poland, Albania, Kosovo, Armenia
Group G: Italy, Switzerland, Romania, Croatia, Moldova, Lithuania
Group H: Germany, Portugal, Serbia, Israel, Turkey, Bulgaria
Group I: France, Wales, Slovenia, Greece, Kazakhstan, Estonia
