As there’s a growing interest continuing to show in women’s football, the international level are thriving and as they’ve qualified for their first ever major tournament, we’re looking back on the journey and their expectations ahead of the summer of 2025.
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00:00So, Charles, Wales Woman, they have qualified for their first ever major tournament at the
00:07Women's Euros to come next year. Rhiannon Wilkinson has done quite the job since only
00:11coming in as the boss in February and to get them qualified for a major tournament is quite
00:18an achievement. Of course, their other home nations have been there, done it before, England
00:22of course, we know the success they had in 2022, Scotland to Northern Ireland, but now
00:28it's Wales' turn to get there and compete. Obviously, expectations are probably not massively
00:36high because they are qualifying for the first time, but in itself, it's just quite an achievement
00:41to be honest. And quite a moment for Wales Women's Football because to get there after
00:49so many times trying is quite something for them. So firstly, how did it happen? Go through
00:55the qualifying story and also, I say there that expectations perhaps aren't the highest,
01:00but what are our expectations? Are they wanting to just pick up some results or even get out
01:05of the group stages? What should they be looking for? Yeah, I mean, expectations are incredibly
01:11high actually. It's quite strange to see Rhiannon Wilkinson's obviously come in for 10 games,
01:18pretty flawless, only losing once since she came in. It was a massive appointment from
01:23them and they were sort of down the pecking order in the qualifying stages until she came
01:28in to take the campaign. Windsor Island, Croatia, then 6-0 away at Kosovo, a draw with Ukraine
01:36and then another one with Ukraine the game after, 3-0 away at Croatia. And then it came
01:43down to a playoff stage in Group A and it was quite remarkable. They lose away to Slovakia
01:522-1 and they win at home 2-0 to make sure they're through on aggregate. So, you know,
01:57aggregate football is something that's sort of dying in this age and Welsh women's football
02:01fans saw how impressive aggregate ties can prove to be. So much drama, a remarkable night
02:08for Rhiannon Wilkinson and Welsh football, Welsh women's football and Welsh sports and
02:15women's sport as a whole as well. As you say, the Lionesses have been put on the map and
02:20Scotland has been some fantastic achievements from women's football. But for Wales to actually
02:27qualify for their first ever major tournament is just remarkable and it's something that
02:32should be seen for years and years to come as the benchmark for them. Now, going into
02:37the Euros in the summer is going to be so impressive. It's all new ground to them but
02:41I think they're certainly going to be ready for it. Rhiannon Wilkinson says she's prepared
02:46and she wants to face the best of the best because that's where they want to be. And
02:50yeah, it's absolutely fantastic for the nation as a whole and really good for women's sport. So
02:55an amazing achievement and something I think that really deserves so much praise.