It’s not that Ireland ever tire of reminiscing about that spellbinding summer in London eight years ago when they reached the World Cup final. It’s just, as Lena Neill, one of three 2018 survivors in the current squad, put it, “we need to create some new magic”.That will indeed be the goal over the next fortnight when Ireland take part in their seventh World Cup and their third in a row. The Belgian city of Wavre is the venue for the opening phase of their campaign, as it is for Ireland’s men in their World Cup.The dream, need it be said, is to reach another final. The venue for the decider is Amstelveen in the Netherlands – the tournament’s co-hosts – on August 29th. It might seem a fanciful prospect, though, as 11 of the sides in the 16-team tournament are ranked above Ireland. Gareth Grundie’s charges should be finely tuned for the challenge having played 16 Pro League matches over the last year. Ultimately, their debut campaign in the competition ended in relegation to the Nations Cup, but playing so many games against the world’s very best should stand to them.Unlike in 2018, many of this squad now play their hockey in some of Europe’s top leagues. For example, 10 of them play in Belgium. It means Grundie has a group of players competing at the highest level week in, week out. He has a wealth of experience at his disposal too. Katie Mullan and Róisín Upton, along with Neill, played in the 2018 final, while captain Sarah Hawkshaw has passed the century cap mark. Sarah Torrans, Hannah McLoughlin and Ellen Curran aren’t far off that milestone. The only player yet to reach double digit caps is Aisling Utri, the Australian-born former AFLW Western Bulldogs player who declared for Ireland earlier this year. They’ll need a top-two finish in their group if they are to progress to the business end of the tournament. Spain (Sunday, 7.30pm Irish time), New Zealand (Tuesday 10am) and Belgium (Thursday 8.30pm) stand in their way. Ireland are the lowest ranked team in the group, but there’s not much between them, Spain and New Zealand, so they’ll target points in those games. Belgium, ranked third in the world, should be a trickier prospect, not least when they’re playing on home turf. Squad: Elizabeth Murphy, Holly Micklem, Róisín Upton, Hannah McLoughlin, Caoimhe Perdue, Lena Neill, Sarah McAuley, Ellen Curran, Lisa Mulcahy, Sarah Hawkshaw, Charlotte Beggs, Michelle Carey, Christina Hamill, Mia Jennings, Katie Mullan, Sarah Torrans, Aisling Utri, Mikayla Power, Niamh Carey, Emily Kealy.Fixtures (Irish times) - Sunday: Ireland v Spain, 7.30pm; Tuesday: Ireland v New Zealand, 10am; Thursday: Ireland v Belgium, 8.30pm.* The men’s and women’s World Cup games will be shown live on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player.