Wales will return to Llanelli on Tuesday for the second leg of their Women’s World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final against Albania holding a 1-0 advantage. The first leg in Shkoder was settled by an own goal, with Ezmiralda Franja diverting Lily Woodham’s corner into her own net. Rhian Wilkinson’s side are well placed to progress as they continue their quest to reach a first Women’s World Cup in the nation’s history.
The win followed a familiar pattern from Wales’ away matches in the group stage. They claimed positive results despite underwhelming performances in the Czech Republic, Albania and Montenegro, topping their group after scraping a point in the Czech Republic, a 1-0 victory in Albania and a 1-1 draw in Montenegro. At home, by contrast, Wales produced three resounding victories and won plaudits as well as points. That included a 4-0 win over Albania in Wrexham in April, a performance they will hope to reproduce at Parc y Scarlets.
In Shkoder, Wales were unconvincing in and out of possession even against opponents ranked 37 places below them. Aside from the set-piece goal, they rarely looked like scoring, though Mared Griffiths and Hannah Cain did have sights of goal. Albania appeared much more likely to find the target and were denied by goalkeeper Safia Middleton-Patel, the woodwork when Fortesa Berisha’s shot hit the post, and an offside ruling after Megi Doci had an effort disallowed. Wales, in truth, were fortunate to avoid defeat, never mind a draw.
“There were moments where obviously they could have scored, but you ride your luck sometimes,” said Wales midfielder Rachel Rowe. “We rode the game out. I’m really proud of the girls. We go into Tuesday confident and with areas to improve on.”
Wales captain Angharad James said the priority was the result and the clean sheet. “We knew coming here [to Albania] wasn’t going to be easy,” she said. “The most important thing was getting the result, the clean sheet and taking that back to Llanelli on Tuesday. Playing in Wales – we love nothing more as a group, so we’re in a good situation right now.”
Wilkinson praised her team for finding a way to win on what she called a “hard day” at the Loro Borici Stadium. “We need to make sure we take care of business at home but equally push our standards a bit,” the head coach added. Midfielder Sophie Ingle said Wales needed “just a bit more calmness in possession” and to “kill their counter-attack, because they’re really good. They’ve got two, three fast forwards and you can see on the break a few times they tested Saf in goal.”
The second leg takes place at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli, on Tuesday, 13 October at 19:15 BST. If Wales progress, they are likely to face Norway in a two-legged play-off final in December, with the second game away from home. Norway, ranked 14th in the world and 17 places above Wales, have one foot in the final after a 2-0 first-leg win in Romania on Friday. Their manager Gemma Grainger knows Welsh football well from her time in charge of Wales before she left to take over Norway in 2024, and Norway’s staff will have seen little to frighten them from the midpoint of the semi-final.
Wales’ task could also be helped by the return of players from injury. Nine regular members of Wilkinson’s squad are missing in this international window, giving Wales a patched-up look in Albania, and the return of some of those sidelined players would make a difference to Wilkinson’s plans. Wales are unbeaten in nine matches, equalling the nation’s previous best sequence without defeat from November 2013 to August 2014. They would be in danger of a shock semi-final exit if they do not extend that run to 10 games in midweek. If they do, the next target would be 11 by avoiding defeat in the first leg of the final, with the inter-confederation play-offs potentially waiting beyond that. If Wales were to get that far, the likelihood is that the World Cup would beckon.
The first task, though, is to get past Albania and produce a performance that increases belief.