Wales Encouraged to Embrace Challenging Euro 2025 Group Draw

Three former Wales international players and a former Wales manager have asserted that the national team must embrace being placed in one of Euro 2025’s most demanding groups. The Welsh women’s team, participating in their inaugural major tournament, was allocated to Group D for Euro 2025. They are set to compete against England, ranked fourth in the world standings; the Netherlands, ranked 10th; and France, ranked 11th. As the lowest-ranked team in the competition, Wales’ prospects are already being discounted, yet several of their former players believe they can achieve unexpected results in Switzerland. Wales’ prominent player, Jess Fishlock, and coach Rhian Wilkinson have previously voiced confidence that Wales can surprise observers in July. Former Wales forward Gwennan Harries suggests that pundits who dismiss Wilkinson’s side do so at their own risk. “We’re making history and I think the enjoyment part will be the most important thing,” Harries told BBC Sport. “Let’s see what we can do. We always do well when we are underdogs so I think a lot of people will underestimate us.” Former Wales defender Nia Jones stated that it would be an error for other nations to underestimate Wales’ threat. “If you think of it from the other teams perspectives in the group I’m absolutely sure they’ll have looked at little old Wales in there and thought that ‘that’s just an easy three points,’ and that’s the best possible position for Wales to be in,” Jones explained. “You know, it’s tough for all teams and to compete there you’ve got to play three tough games in close succession so maybe they’ll look to field some of their fringe players in that match against Wales, which will absolutely play into our hands.” Kath Morgan, another former Wales player, expressed her belief that Wales can surprise opponents, particularly in their match against France, the only team in their group that has never won a major tournament. “France have so many individual talents within the team, but we’re never sure which France turns up,” said Morgan. “Sometimes they are excellent and sometimes they’re just poor. I’m not worried about playing France, I think we could organise ourselves enough to beat them.” She added, “Netherlands are a very young team, they’ve restructured over the last year or so. They’re going to be dangerous but inexperienced at this stage so that could help us.” The head coaches for Group D teams, Laurent Bonadei of France, Sarina Wiegman of England, and Andries Jonker of the Netherlands, along with Jon Grey, assistant coach for Wales, were all present at the draw held on Monday in Switzerland. The match against England, ranked fourth globally and the defending champions, is anticipated to attract considerable attention. Both Harries and Morgan admitted that Sarina Wiegman’s team was an opponent they had hoped to avoid. “Obviously, I am a little bit gutted to have England in the group but I would’ve taken being there to play them over not being there at all,” Harries said. Morgan further commented, “I am a little disappointed to have drawn England again, just because everything that comes around with that game. We can’t seem to avoid them! The most important thing is though that we are there.” Morgan continued, “The journey to arrive at this point has been massive. We can’t take anything away from that, it’s taken 15 years to reach this point. We were always going to face the best 16 teams in Europe so I would’ve complained about any draw. The truth is everyone will do something, we want to go there and compete and ensure we can show people we’re on the level to compete with those nations.” Gemma Grainger, the former Wales boss who now manages Norway and previously worked with the English Football Association, remarked that the Wales versus England game presents an excellent prospect for neutral spectators. “It’s going to be incredible. To see the England-Wales game, wow,” Grainger told BBC Sport Wales. “It will be such a great game. To see Wales qualify for the first time was very special. I saw Jess Fishlock at the draw and to see someone like her being in the Euros… Life can be really good. I feel like that’s a mission complete. To see them debuting in the tournament and playing in the Euros will be amazing.”