World Cup play-offs: Liverpool and Republic's Niamh Fahey set for 'biggest match of career'

Fahey returned to the WSL with Liverpool this season

Liverpool captain Niamh Fahey has said that reaching the World Cup finals with the Republic of Ireland would mean everything to her.

The 34-year-old will be part of Vera Pauw's Irish side that takes on Scotland in a World Cup play-off at Hampden Park on Tuesday night.

The Republic are aiming to reach a first-ever World Cup finals.

"In terms of magnitude it is going to be the biggest game of my career," Fahey told Sportsound Extra Time.

"Hopefully now we can go one step further and get to a World Cup. That would be huge, it would mean everything. It is the pinnacle of a career, to be able to get to a major finals.

"We have to seize the moment, have no fear. It is 90 minutes, it is 11 v 11. You can get caught up in the outcomes, in what might be and what might not be, but you have to just treat it as a one-off game and just play the game.

"That's how I'm approaching it and that's what I will be telling anyone else."

Liverpool captain Fahey joined the Merseyside club in 2018

There are two other play-offs taking place on Tuesday night - Wales travel to Switzerland and Portugal host Iceland - with only the two top-ranked of the three winners on the night guaranteed a World Cup place, and the third winner facing an inter-confederation play-off in New Zealand in February.

In short, the Republic, ranked third on the basis of their qualification record to date, must win and hope that at least one of Switzerland or Iceland lose or only win on penalties.

Fahey's tough choice after GAA All-Ireland win

Fahey is well used to high-pressure environments with Liverpool, who have won one and lost one of their first two games back in the Women's Super League after earning promotion last season.

However, her winning mentality stretches back to her days of playing GAA for her home county Galway, with whom she won an All-Ireland title in 2004 - a success which meant she had a difficult choice to make in pursuing a career in football.

"It was a tough one to leave the Gaelic football set-up because that was my first love," she explained.

"We are a big Gaelic football family, my brother played for Galway, won an All-Ireland and I won an All-Ireland myself with the Galway women's team.

"It was really tough to leave that maroon jersey [of Galway] behind but the ultimate is playing for your country. To be able to play for Ireland and to be able to pull on the green shirt is something special."

And she will not be short of good-luck messages from her former GAA team-mates ahead of Tuesday night.

"We have a WhatsApp group from the 2004 team. We have that special bond that winning creates.

"They are a great group of girls, we have met up regularly, that bond still exists and it is like a little support group that is there for each other all the time, which is really cool. They always send a text and are really supportive."