Wales moved closer to a first Women’s World Cup appearance by beating Albania 3-0 at Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli, completing a 4-0 aggregate win in their play-off semi-final. Mayzee Davies, Elise Hughes and Hannah Cain scored as Wales reached a second successive Women’s World Cup play-off final.
Next up is Norway in December’s play-off final. The first leg is scheduled for Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday, 1 December, with the return leg in Norway four days later. Norway are ranked 14th in the world, 17 places above Wales, and have reached every Women’s World Cup since the tournament began in 1991, winning it in 1995. Wales, whose only previous major championship appearance was at Euro 2025, have never beaten a top-20 ranked side in a competitive fixture.
Wales head coach Rhian Wilkinson believes the pressure will be on Norway and that her side can “absolutely” cause an upset. “The pressure is always on the big nations and that’s something I think we thrive on,” she said. “We’re a small nation, we fight for each other.” Wilkinson also highlighted the quality of Wales’ display against Albania, saying there were “fantastic levels of play” from one of the younger teams in the competition.
Wilkinson acknowledged Wales’ first-leg performance away to Albania had not pleased her. “I thought we lacked intensity, lacked teeth in our defending, we weren’t connecting our passes in a way I know we can,” she said. She described the home leg as the “absolute reversal”, praising Angharad James for leading an intense, strong performance from the first minute.
The final will reunite Wales with former boss Gemma Grainger, now in charge of Norway. Wilkinson said Wales have “fantastic players that can absolutely go toe-to-toe with them”, while also stressing the need for rest and recovery before the squad goes again.
Even if Wales beat Norway, their place at next year’s World Cup in Brazil is not guaranteed because of the qualifying format. Depending on which other sides come through the eight European play-off finals, Wales may have to negotiate an inter-confederation play-off next February to secure their spot. “The World Cup is off in the distance – I’ll keep saying that because we don’t even know if and when we beat Norway if that’s the final hurdle,” Wilkinson said. “So it is the next game in front of us – we don’t get too far ahead.”