Vera Pauw's Ireland face intriguing test against vibrant Zambia

The Republic of Ireland will face one of the most exciting attacking forces in African football when they welcome Zambia to Tallaght Stadium on Thursday.

Both countries are fine-tuning preparations for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, with Vera Pauw expecting the Copper Queens to pose similar threats to Nigeria, who Ireland play in the group stages on 31 July.

Zambia made an impression at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Although they failed to register a win in their three matches, Bruce Mwape's side turned heads with a swashbuckling, robustly attacking style.

Their standout performer was striker Barbra Banda who scored back-to-back hat-tricks at the Games. The first of those trebles came in a 10-3 hammering at the hands of the Netherlands, but a subsequent 4-4 draw against China [who Ireland drew with in February] and a narrow 1-0 loss to Brazil were more indicative of the nation's upward curve.

They reached the semi-finals of the 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations - booking their ticket to the World Cup in the process - despite being without Banda, who controversially missed the tournament after failing a gender eligibility test due to high testosterone levels.

Banda's testosterone levels are naturally high; indeed, she had been taking medication to reduce them prior to WAFCON.

She returned afterwards to help her country win the COSAFA [Council of Southern Africa Football Associations] Women's Championship and has been named in Mwape's World Cup squad, having been given the green light by FIFA to participate in the tournament last January.

Zambia's captain and outstanding player has been a huge hit in the Chinese Super League, where she's a prolific scorer for Shanghai Shengli. Banda also has a good supporting cast of