Wales Advances in Euro 2025 Play-offs, Eyes Historic Qualification

Wales is on the verge of qualifying for a major women’s tournament for the first time, needing two more victories after defeating Slovakia 3-2 on aggregate in their Euro 2025 play-off. During the 2-0 victory against Slovakia, Jess Fishlock netted her 46th goal for the national team. Rhian Wilkinson’s team secured a 2-0 win after extra-time at Cardiff City Stadium, with goals from Jess Fishlock and Ceri Holland. This result followed an initial 2-1 defeat in the first leg held in Poprad. Consequently, Wales is set to compete against the Republic of Ireland in a two-legged tie later this year. The victor of this match-up will secure a spot in next summer’s finals in Switzerland. Wilkinson’s squad will play host to Ireland for the first leg of the final, subsequently traveling to Dublin for the return leg. These matches are scheduled to occur between 27 November and 3 December. Eileen Gleeson’s Ireland team currently holds the 24th position in the world rankings, which is five places higher than Wales. Following the crucial win over Slovakia, BBC Sport Wales pundits have provided their analysis of the recent training camp and shared their opinions regarding the upcoming challenge against Ireland. The match concluded with Wales defeating Slovakia 2-0 after extra-time, marking Wales’ advancement in Euro 2025 qualifying. Ceri Holland, who played on the right side of midfield against Slovakia, scored in the 22nd minute of extra-time, giving Wales the lead for the first time in the two-legged contest. The Liverpool midfielder scored after substitute Kayleigh Barton hit the post. The goal was confirmed following a delay for a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review. Commenting on Holland, former Wales centre-back Nia Jones stated on Match of the Day Wales: “Ceri Holland is so versatile, but for a quality footballer like she is, she works her socks off.” She added: “For the goal, there’s no such thing as right place, right time, you’ve got to anticipate it and have the legs to reach it after 120 minutes.” Former Wales midfielder Katie Sherwood also told Match of the Day Wales: “Ceri Holland has been such a consistent performer throughout this campaign, playing in a number of positions.” Sherwood further remarked: “The key is she has end product, she is such an influential player for this team.” Ceri Holland, a Liverpool midfielder, had recovered from a foot injury to participate in the match for Wales against Slovakia. The Republic of Ireland advanced to the play-off final by achieving a decisive 9-0 aggregate victory against Georgia. Although the Republic of Ireland is expected to present a significantly tougher challenge than Slovakia, former Wales striker Helen Ward expressed confidence in Wales’ prospects for the upcoming two-match series. On BBC Radio Wales, she commented: “It’s going to be a much tougher ask against the Republic of Ireland.” Ward continued: “You’d expect they’ll come with a game plan, but it’s certainly a game Wales will look to and think they can win.” She also noted: “We’ve got a to and fro record against them over the years, won a few and of course that game earlier this year where we beat them was a great performance.” Ward concluded: “If we perform like we did then we stand a very good chance.” New manager Rhian Wilkinson observed from the stands when Wales secured a 2-0 friendly victory over Ireland in Dublin in February. However, former Wales full-back Kath Morgan anticipates that Wilkinson’s team will adopt a more defensive posture in the forthcoming matches against Ireland. Morgan stated on Radio Cymru: “When we beat the Republic of Ireland that wasn’t their first team, November will be completely different.” She added: “We’re not used to playing teams above us since Gemma Grainger was in charge.” Morgan further commented: “We will be the team sitting in the low block come November, trying to defend as a unit and that’s perhaps something we’re not as used to.” Jess Fishlock participated for the entire 120 minutes in the second leg against Slovakia, having been introduced as a substitute in the initial match in Poprad. This marked her return to play since suffering a leg injury during her duties with Seattle Reign in early September. Leicester City forward Hannah Cain also made her return from a prolonged injury absence, playing the concluding minutes of the second leg in Cardiff. Harries believes that players can utilize the coming weeks to achieve optimal match fitness for the play-off final. Harries added: “Players are coming back, like Hannah Cain, she got more minutes after coming back from another ACL injury, she’s had a tough couple of years.” She also expressed hope that “a few more players who haven’t been playing or starting regularly for their clubs will have a few more weeks to gain some match fitness.” In 2022, under Gemma Grainger, Wales experienced a late defeat in a World Cup play-off against Switzerland. However, with a major tournament appearance now within closer reach, Ward acknowledged that qualification would significantly benefit the nation. Helen Ward told 5 Live Breakfast: “It’d be huge. There are so many players in the squad that I’ve had the privilege of playing with. This is probably the last chance for some and they’ve given so much to the country.” She continued: “It’ll do so much for the sport in general in Wales and for women’s football. We had over 10,000 there last night, I’d expect to have more for the Ireland game.” Ward added: “It’d just inspire a new generation of players and it could kick the sport on to new heights.” She concluded: “It would mean an awful lot to get to that tournament finally.”