Ireland’s World Cup opener this week is a ‘historic event,’ according to two players who featured in the Irish women's team's first-ever international match.

Paula Gorham and Catherine Rafferty both took to the pitch when the Republic of Ireland made their official international debut in a friendly game against Wales on May 13th, 1973.

Gorham scored a hat-trick in a 3-2 in the first of many caps she would win for the Girls in Green.

50 years later, she told Lunchtime Live that her memories of taking the international stage for Ireland for the first time are still "very vivid".

"It was our first-ever official international match [and] we won it. So, that was a very proud moment," she said.

"They were a great bunch of women that we played with and it was a great team effort on the day."

'The glass ceiling'

Rafferty, who represented Ireland in midfield, said qualifying for the Australia and New Zealand World Cup is a "magnificent" achievement for the players.

"It's unbelievable to think that our team is taking to the world stage. I think it's a historic event," she said.

"[When] you're wearing the Irish jersey, it's just fantastic. It transcends everything."

5 May 2023; Members of the 1973 Republic of Ireland women's national team during a reunion at The Westin Hotel in Dublin as part of the FAI's 50-Year Celebrations of Women and Girls' Football. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Rafferty said the team did not set out to "crack the glass ceiling" for international ladies' soccer during their game against Wales.

"I don't think we really realised what we were doing – we enjoyed our game, we enjoyed soccer and playing," she said.

"We didn't understand what we were achieving, or what we were starting, to be honest with you," said Gorham.

Facilities

Gorham said today's players have "really nothing to worry about" in comparison to how the early women's teams were treated.

"Really, as Vera Pauw would say, on our shoulders, they stand today,” she said.

“They have all the proper training facilities, they have all the proper coaching facilities, they are financially all okay.

"We had quite the opposite to that – we had to look for find our money somewhere, whether it was bucket collections, or flag selling or whatever."

6 July 2023; Kathleen Ramsbottom of the 1973 Republic of Ireland womens' team with Kyra Carusa after the women's international friendly match between Republic of Ireland and France at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Rafferty recalled some of the players being denied time off work and school for the game in Wales.

"Some of us people didn't manage to get time off work, and then, we travelled over to Wales, and we paid for our own fare," she said.

"We were given the loan of the jerseys, we had to give them back.

"We won the game and we returned home and there was no coverage of the events."

5 May 2023; Catherine Rafferty poses for a portrait during a reunion of the 1973 Republic of Ireland women's national team at The Westin Hotel in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

2023 campaign

Rafferty said Ireland are up against some strong contenders – including 2020 Olympics winner Canada – but she is certain they will "play their heart out".

"They're in a very difficult group there's no question about it. I still think we have the heart and the will and the talent to come through it," Gorham told the show.

"To me, they don't owe us anything. They've already made history by getting there.

"I will watch it on my own.  I don't want any interruptions. I want to see every move of the ball and every pass. I like to be able to analyse the game myself from my own sitting room."

"I'll be cheering them every minute of the day," said Rafferty, "I'll be raising the roof."

29 August 2022; Former Republic of Ireland internationals Paula Gorham welcomed to the Republic of Ireland Women's team hotel, Castleknock Hotel in Dublin, by manager Vera Pauw. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Ireland kick off their Word Cup campaign against Australia this Thursday, July 20th.

An overwhelming demand for tickets meant the opening match had to be shifted to the tournament’s biggest stadium, where it’s set to be played in front of an expected record crowd of 82,500 people.