Cymru head coach Rhian Wilkinson is excited for the opportunity to take on three leading European nations in the UEFA Women’s Nations League next year following Thursday’s draw for what will be the second edition of the competition.
Cymru were seeded in Pot 4 for the draw and will now take on Italy, Sweden and Denmark in Group A4, with the matches taking place between February and June 2025. Wilkinson’s side regained their place in League A at the first time of asking by finishing top of their qualifying group for EURO 2025, having previously been relegated in the inaugural edition of the tournament last year.
“This is an opportunity for Wales,” explained Wilkinson from UEFA HQ following the draw. “I’m not delusional about it, it will be a massive challenge and to stay up will be tough, but I can’t think of anything this team wants more than to be challenged against the best and that’s what we’ve got. We want to be in League A and play the most exciting games, so it’s great to be back in the top league.”
However, the immediate focus for Wilkinson and her Cymru squad is firmly-fixed on the UEFA EURO 2025 play-off final against the Republic of Ireland for a place in the finals that will be held in Switzerland next summer. The first leg takes place at the Cardiff City Stadium on Friday 29 November before the return match in Dublin the following Tuesday.
“We’ve got more important objectives just around the corner,” explained Wilkinson in reference to the upcoming tie. “But after that we will have new objectives so it’s nice to know the path. The goal is to be in League A and to be competing and improving as a nation. I didn’t care which group we got, and I mean that honestly, because it’s about building the game at home and giving exposure to our players against some of the best nations in the world.”
“Italy are one of these giants of the game now, but they built that on the back of being a team that were like Wales, bouncing between the leagues and they weren’t quite there, but now they’re in Pot 1. They built methodically, they put investment into it, they backed this opportunity and that’s a great example. Sweden and Denmark are nations that invested in the women’s game very early on, the Scandinavians were ahead of most other nations, and they have been top nations for a long time now.”
Cymru were up against Denmark in the first edition of the UEFA Women’s Nations League together with Iceland and Germany, but finished bottom of the group under former head coach Gemma Grainger. In a change to the competition format, Wilkinson was able to achieve promotion while also qualifying for the UEFA EURO play-offs, and highlighted the advantages of competing in either league.
“I think in League B we’re able to develop in certain ways,” she added. “We’re able to be on the ball more than we would be in League A, but then against League A opposition we’ve just got to tighten everything up. Defensively is the obvious thing to say, but it’s about how we play, cleaning up our processes, our triangles, everything we do has to be on another level in League A. I think you get a lot out of both experiences.”
The competition also plays a key part in qualifying for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup that will take place in Brazil as the top two nations in each League A group will stay at that level for the qualification campaign. Meanwhile, third place will lead to a play-off against a runner-up from League B for that League A place, while the nation that finishes bottom of their League A group will automatically drop to League B.
