Korea Republic 1-1 Cymru
- Sophie Ingle scores first Cymru goal since July 2024
- Cymru rue missed first-half opportunities but bring losing run to end
- Rhian Wilkinson’s side finish year against Switzerland on Tuesday
Cymru paid the price for not taking a number of early chances as Korea Republic denied Rhian Wilkinson’s side a first win of 2025.
Head coach Wilkinson spoke before the match about how the burden of not winning throughout 2025 was something her team did not want to carry any longer, and named a strong starting line-up with seven changes from the side that lost 5-2 to Poland last month.
Angharad James returned as captain in the middle of midfield against a Korea Republic side playing their first fixture since July, and they almost took an early lead as a misplaced pass from Olivia Clark offered an opportunity on goal, but the resulting effort cleared the bar.
Cymru soon took control, and it was Sophie Ingle who opened the scoring after six minutes. After initially forcing goalkeeper Kim Min-Jeong to make a decent save, Ingle then converted from the resulting corner. Hannah Cain then had a great chance to double the advantage but directed her effort wide.
Wilkinson’s side continued to enjoy the majority of the possession and Ingle again came close to grabbing her second as she stretched for a deep cross but just couldn’t make the crucial contact needed at the back post. With the physical advantage over the opponents, Cymru had plenty of the ball and looked dangerous on set-pieces.
Ji So-yun was the source of Korea Republic’s creativity and had a chance of her own midway through the opening half but could not make her opportunity count. At the other end, Mared Griffiths and Carrie Jones also had chances for Cymru before half-time, but it remained 1-0.
Elise Hughes was introduced for the 2nd half and almost made an immediate impression as she hit the post on 48 minutes. However, Korea Republic made three changes of their own and brought a more physical approach to their game after the restart.
On 51 minutes Choi Yoo-Jung forced a good save from Clark, and shortly after Cymru squandered a big opportunity as Jones dragged her effort wide of the far post after receiving a fine ball from James. It would prove costly as Korea Republic levelled after 68 minutes.
Substitute Kim Min-Ji found herself unmarked in the area and headed past Clark to level the score. The goal visibly lifted their opponents, and they began to ask questions of their own as Cymru struggled to regain control of a game that really should have been made safe much earlier on.
