Brosnan and Kiernan return for Hungary friendly

Carla Ward says the Hungary game and preceding training camp will be tailored to next year's Nations League campaign

Republic of Ireland manager Carla Ward says her side's behind closed doors friendly with Hungary on Saturday, 29 November in Marbella will be played with next year's World Cup qualifiers in mind.

Ward's side will face France, the Netherlands and Poland next year and will round out their successful 2025 with a trip to Spain for a training camp later, this month that concludes with the Hungary friendly.

Winning promotion to League A for World Cup qualifying following their 5-4 aggregate victory over Belgium last month is a clear sign of progress, but there is much work to do with the tests set to get much greater in 2026.

"The camp has to build into League A," said Ward following the announcement of her 23-player squad for the training camp.

"We've had two games with a new system. The principles don't change, but the system has, so it will be a really important five days trying to implement those changes. While they (players) have delivered in an unbelievable way, there's still plenty to work on in that system."

Ward will be without Heather Payne, Megan Connolly and Lily Agg due to injury, while Jess Ziu and Amber Barrett will sit out this camp to allow time to recover from knocks.

There is better news on the injury front with the return of goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan and forward Leanne Kiernan, who missed the Belgium games, while defender Tara O'Hanlon and former WU19 international Kelly Brady are called up who has previously trained with the squad.

"I really like Kelly," Ward confirmed.

"She has an unbelievable athleticism and a way of playing that suits what we want to do.

"She's someone who wants to learn and grow, and has a mentality of wanting to improve all the time. This is a very different camp in terms of it being principle-based, so we can have a look at what she can do with the ball and without it."

While the Republic of Ireland men produced the goods with a last-gasp win over Hungary on Sunday to keep their own World Cup dreams alive, Ward's side produced similar when winning promotion to Nations League A as it took a last-gasp Abbie Larkin goal to see them through.

"I would say we probably felt that after we beat Belgium," Ward said the feel-good factor that swept through Republic of Ireland football on Sunday.

"Positivity breeds positivity and when results are going your way, you want to be a part of that. It's a really good moment and to continue these moments, we've got to wok extremely hard."

Republic of Ireland squad

Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (Everton), Grace Moloney (Sunderland), Sophie Whitehouse (Charlton Athletic)

Defenders: Aoife Mannion (Newcastle United), Jessie Stapleton (Nottingham Forest – on loan), Anna Patten (Aston Villa), Caitlin Hayes (Brighton & Hove Albion), Hayley Nolan (Crystal Palace), Chloe Mustaki (Nottingham Forest), Tara O'Hanlon (Sunderland – on loan), Katie McCabe (Arsenal)

Midfielders: Denise O'Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Ruesha Littlejohn (Crystal Palace), Jamie Finn (Sunderland), Tyler Toland (Durham), Marissa Sheva (Sunderland), Lucy Quinn (Birmingham City)

Forwards: Kyra Carusa (San Diego Wave), Abbie Larkin (Crystal Palace), Emily Murphy (Newcastle United), Saoirse Noonan (Celtic), Leanne Kiernan (Liverpool), Kelly Brady (Free Agent)