On Wednesday, Katie McCabe experienced arguably her greatest sporting moment to date. McCabe scored from the corner flag in Ireland's 2-1 against Canada to be the first woman to score a goal for Ireland in the Women's World Cup.
McCabe has had a remarkable career so far for both her club side Arsenal and the Republic of Ireland women's national team. In total McCabe has played 119 times for Arsenal, scoring 19 times for the team located in London.
On the international level, McCabe has represented the Girls In Green 75 times, scoring 21 goals during that time.
Here at Balls, we took a look back at 13 of Katie McCabe's greatest moments playing for both her club and country.
Katie McCabe: Her Greatest Career Moments
1 - A UEFA Women's U19 Euro Semi-Finalist
In 2014, a 15-year-old Katie McCabe travelled with the U19 Irish Women's team to Norway for the Euros.
The women's u19 Euros have been played 23 times, this was and is still the only Irish team to ever qualify for the tournament.
The Girls in Green were drawn in a group against reigning u19 world champions Spain, the previous Euro's runners-up and a very strong Swedish side. Their group was labeled as the group of death and nobody expected Ireland to survive it.
Against the odds, the star-studded team, with Katie as the breakout star beat all three. They made it all the way to the semi-final, where they ran into a formidable Dutch side, which had Vivianne Miedema. Miedema and her side would go on to win the game.
21 July 2014; Republic of Ireland's Katie McCabe celebrates her side's 2-1 victory over Sweden. 2014 UEFA Women's U19 Championship, Republic of Ireland v Sweden, UKI Arena, Jessheim, Ullensaker, Norway. Picture credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE
2 - 2015 move from Shelbourne to Arsenal
After three successful years with Shelbourne, picking up two Women's National League titles and three FAI Women's Cup, McCabe decided to make her big move to the Women's Super League in England, where all the greats play.
After turning down a few major teams, McCabe finally made her dream come true when she signed for her childhood team Arsenal in December 2015.
Since joining the club she has won the FAW Cup with the Gunners in 2015/16 and a WSL title in 2018.
3 - Republic of Ireland Debut
Katie made her senior Republic of Ireland debut against Hungary in March, 2015 under then-manager Sue Ronan.
McCabe featured in the squad at the 2015 Istria Cup, the game finished 1-1.
This would be the start of an exceptional national career for McCabe that is still ongoing.
4 - First senior goal for the Republic of Ireland
McCabe scored her first-ever goal for Ireland at senior level in 1-1 draw against Italy in 2016.
McCabe grasped a last-minute equaliser, scoring in the 93rd minute of the game. This was our first glimpse of seeing the type of player Katie would become for Ireland. A leader and a fighter, with that never-give-up attitude till the end.
5 - Named as the youngest-ever Irish women's captain
In 2017 Katie McCabe was named captain of the Republic of Ireland's women's national team by former head coach, Colin Bell.
At just 21 years old at the time McCabe became the youngest captain ever in the team’s history.
19 September 2017; Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe leads her side out prior to the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Qualifier Group 3 match between Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland at Mourneview Park in Lurgan, Co Armagh. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
6 - 100 club appearances for Arsenal
In December 2020, she made her 100th appearance for Arsenal in a 4-0 victory over Everton, picking up an assist from the corner on a goal by Jen Beattie.
On October 30th, 2022, Katie McCabe made her 100th Women’s Super League appearance. The Arsenal star marked the landmark milestone by playing a key role in her side’s 3-1 come-from-behind win over West Ham.
🎶 We’ve got…
100 huge WSL appearances for the one and only @Katie_McCabe11 💪 pic.twitter.com/npSWezVuID— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) October 30, 2022
7 - 50 Cap Milestone for the Republic of Ireland
In April 2021 Katie McCabe earned her 50th senior international cap in a friendly against Belgium.
11 April 2021; Katie McCabe of Republic of Ireland in action against Laura Deloose of Belgium during the women's international friendly match between Belgium and Republic of Ireland at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium. Photo by David Catry/Sportsfile
8 - Katie McCabe named in the PFA Team of the Year 2021
In 2021, McCabe was named to the Players Football Association Team of the Year 2021. This followed an impressive showing for Arsenal in the 2020/2021 season.
9 - Awarded WSL Goal Of The Season 2022/23
Katie McCabe in the last three years has really come into form as a player. The girl from Kilnamanagh in Dublin also shined bright on the field but the past few years she had really stepped up her performances.
One such example of this was her performance in their 2-1 victory over Manchester City. McCabe scored a remarkable goal which would later go on to earn the WSL Goal of the Season.
10 - Named Arsenal's Player of the Year for 2022/23 season
In the 2022/23 season, McCabe enjoyed one of her best years at club level.
The Irish native played an instrumental role in Arsenal's strong Champions League campaign, which saw them make it all the way to the semi-finals. Her performances earned her a spot in the Champions League team of the season. She also helped her team to get their hands on silverware with victory in the Conti Cup.
On June 30th, she was named Arsenal's player of the season.
11- Named in the 2022/23 Champions League Team of the Year
Ireland captain Katie McCabe was named in the UEFA Women's Champions League team of the season.
McCabe was chosen as left back for the team following a number of impressive performances throughout the different stages of the tournament for her club side Arsenal.
If one game was to solidify her place in the team of the year, it would have been Arsenal's 2-2 draw against Wolfsburg in the first leg of their semi-final.
McCabe was Arsenal's standout player on the day. Despite going 2-0 down in the opening 30 minutes of the game, Arsenal showed great fight and determination to leave Wolfsburg with a result.
🔢🔥 The 2022/23 UWCL 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧, selected by UEFA's Technical Observer panel! 👇
Who would make your starting XI ⁉ #UWCL // #UWCLfinal pic.twitter.com/oFLhTa7tUq— UEFA Women’s Champions League (@UWCL) June 5, 2023
12 - Leading Ireland out to play in their first-ever Women's World Cup Game
Katie McCabe made history on Thursday, July 2oth when she led the Irish Women's national team out of the tunnel to play their first-ever FIFA Women's World Cup match.
McCabe made history as only the fourth-ever Irish captain to lead their team out in a World Cup game, becoming the first female to do so in their opening game against Australia.
20 July 2023; Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe leads her side out before the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 Group B match between Australia and Republic of Ireland at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Australia. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
13 - Scoring Ireland's First-Ever Women's World Cup Game
It has been a year of history being made for the Girls in Green, first playing their first ever Women's World Cup game against Australia to then scoring their first-ever goal in a FIFA Women's World Cup.
Who else but Katie McCabe would score Ireland's first-ever Women's World Cup goal, and what a thing of beauty it was. A goal that will go down in Irish footballing history, not only for what it represented but also for how it was executed.
The tournament isn't over yet and there are still plenty of games left to play but McCabe's goal against Canada is a strong contender for goal of the tournament.
For more angles on the goal see here
Ireland’s first ever goal at a @FIFAWWC 🙌⚽️@Katie_McCabe11 with one of the great World Cup goals 🇮🇪💚#COYGIG | #OUTBELIEVE | #FIFAWWC
pic.twitter.com/nK9C3GUXl5— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) July 26, 2023
