World Cup play-offs: Rhian Wilkinson wants courageous Wales after Albania tie

Wilkinson says Wales have learned from their experience at Euro 2025, when they stuggled to make an impact against three of the world’s best teams – Netherlands, France and England.

“I think we all learned a lot through the Euros – myself, my staff, the players,” she said.

“Do I wish I’d coached differently? Parts of it, absolutely. I’m sure they (the players) look back on it and think like ‘what if, what if we could have…’

“But you don’t know until you’ve been to a major event what it’s going to be like, what the pressure feels like, what the stress feels like.

“We talked about it, we prepared for it, and it still blew us away, but there’s confidence that comes from having done it.

“I also look at our last Nations League A campaign – two draws against Sweden, but also keeping the scores really competitive against some top nations.”

Wales will have to improve their away form if they are to get through the play-offs and make it to Brazil.

Wilkinson’s side sailed through their home qualifiers, with a 6-1 mauling of Montenegro, a 4-0 romp past Albania and a 3-1 win over Czech Republic to wrap up the group.

On the road, however, they were fortunate to salvage a draw in the Czech Republic in their opening qualifier in March, then scraped a 1-0 victory in Albania before a shock 1-1 draw in Montenegro in the penultimate match.

“We were a bit frustrated when we played Albania away (in April), but this is a good opportunity to improve our performance against a challenging opposition,” said Wilkinson.

“I thought (Albania) played really well in that second leg, so they’ll be tough. It’ll be a good tactical battle between them and us, and who’s learnt the most.

“It was obvious from our campaign that our away form wasn’t what we wanted it to be. There’s definitely some work to be done away from home.

“It’s about showing up with the best version of ourselves.”