The Ireland Women’s Hockey team have been drawn against Canada in the 2020 Olympic Games qualifier.
The draw was made on Monday at the International Hockey Federation’s headquarters in Lausanne.
Ireland will face off against Canada in a two-legged affair which will take place on the 2nd and 3rd of October. The venue of the games are yet to be confirmed.
By virtue of last year’s World Cup silver medal and the eight-place world ranking, the Green Army ensured that they will have home advantage for both legs.
The draw is potentially the best outcome Ireland could have hoped for as the Canadians were the lowest ranked nation that Ireland could have been pitted against. Canada are ranked 15th in the world.
The draw took place at 12pm with Ireland in Pot 2. They were guaranteed to draw a team from Pot 3 which was made up of Korea (11 in the rankings), Belgium (12), the United States USA (13), and Canada ranked at 15th in the rankings.
The previous meeting between the two sides took place in June 2018 where the game ended 1-1.
Should Ireland beat Canada they will qualify for the Olympics for the first time in their history.
Ireland’s Shirley McCay said, “I would have gone for Canada or USA. The others would have been a huge test but we are under no illusions. They are on the rise and have defied the odds in recent years.”