Wales captain Angharad James says the Women’s World Cup is on her mind in “every training session, every day” as her side prepare to begin their qualifying play-offs away to Albania.
James, 32, is set to win her 146th cap in Shkoder on Friday, when Wales play the first leg of their semi-final at the Loro Borici Stadium. Rhian Wilkinson’s team will have home advantage for the return leg at Parc y Scarlets next Tuesday, with the winners of the tie going on to face either Norway or Romania in a two-legged play-off final in December.
“It’s always in the back of my mind,” the Seattle Reign midfielder said. “I’ve always wanted to play in a World Cup and I think if you ask the majority of the group, the way we turn up and train and play every day for [our] club is for moments like this with our national team.”
She added that she is determined to do everything possible to help Wales reach a first World Cup. “Every day I’ll make sure I do extras. I do everything that I can to best prepare myself and the team to reach the first World Cup.”
Wales are chasing a first Women’s World Cup appearance in the nation’s history, having ended their wait for a major championship by qualifying for Euro 2025, a campaign in which James was a central part of the squad. Wilkinson’s players did all they could in the group stage of World Cup qualifying by topping Group B4, but with no automatic qualification route available to teams in League B, they face a demanding play-off process that begins in Albania.
Wales will expect to overcome the Albanians, who they beat twice during the group phase, even with their squad depleted by injury. A probable final against Norway, however, would be a far sterner challenge, with the second leg away from home. Norway are ranked 14th in the world and are managed by Gemma Grainger, who stepped down as Wales boss in January 2024 after coming close to guiding the country to the 2023 World Cup. A reunion with Grainger would await Wales should they see off Albania and Norway beat Romania.
Even then, Wilkinson’s squad would not know whether a place in Brazil was secured. There will be eight European play-off winners, with seven progressing directly to next year’s tournament and one, the lowest-ranked nation from the group stage of qualifying, going into inter-confederation play-offs in February. James would like to see the qualification process changed.
“You play a final and you could win the final and still not reach the World Cup,” she said. “So as players, do you celebrate that moment, do you not? It’s mixed emotions, but hopefully the pathway will change in the near future.”
Despite the difficulty of the road ahead, James believes the group has what it needs to go the distance. “We know it’s not an easy road ahead of us,” she said. “It’s a big challenge. We’ve got a big game [in Albania], we’ve got big games ahead of us and the road is never easy. But it’s one that I truly believe this group can get through. With the help of the staff and the whole squad, we can achieve big things and reaching the World Cup would be the biggest honour.”