Euros preview: Wales

By Gethin Thurlow (2/7/2025)

Above: The Cymru squad heading to Switzerland. Photo: Cymru on X

For the first time ever, Wales are in a major international tournament. They’ve been thrown right into the deep end with their group: the plucky underdogs will be looking to cause a few upsets, particularly against rivals England.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Olivia Clark (Leicester City), Safia Middleton-Patel (Manchester United), Soffia Kelly (Aston Villa), Poppy Soper (Blackburn Rovers).

Defenders: Rhiannon Roberts (Real Betis), Josie Green (Crystal Palace), Charlie Estcourt (DC Power), Hayley Ladd (Everton), Gemma Evans (Liverpool), Mayzee Davies (Manchester City), Lily Woodham (Crystal Palace – on loan from Seattle Reign), Ella Powell (Bristol City), Esther Morgan (Sheffield United).

Midfielders: Alice Griffiths (Durham – on loan from Southampton), Angharad James (Seattle Reign), Lois Joel (Newcastle United), Carrie Jones (IFK Norrköping), Jess Fishlock (Seattle Reign), Mared Griffiths (Manchester United).

Forwards: Ceri Holland (Liverpool), Rachel Rowe (Southampton), Kayleigh Barton (Charlton Athletic), Tianna Teisar (Bristol City), Hannah Cain (Leicester City), Ffion Morgan (Bristol City), Elise Hughes (Crystal Palace).

Head coach:

The Canadian Rhian Wilkinson took over in February during a crucial 2024 for Cymru, with Euros qualification being decided later that year. Not only has she achieved this, but she has brought Cymru to a level above where they have been under previous managers, both in terms of performance and results.

**Above:** Rhian Wilkinson. **Photo**: Cymru.

While her tactics follow a similar basic pattern to former Cymru coaches: defend, defend, counter-attack; Wilkinson’s model is more structured. Forwards like Ffion Morgan and Hannah Cain are chosen and use their speed to get in behind opposition, while midfielders like captain Angharad James-Turner and Jess Fishlock use their passing talent to sit deeper and pick out those long balls.

Wilkinson has outright improved individual players, beyond tactical adjustments too. For moments in matches now, even when facing top sides Cymru can consistently threaten the box and posses the ball in the opposition’s half. She has transformed the side in only a year.

With more wins (6) than losses (5) or draws (5) from her first 16 games in charge, the Canadian has shown her pedigree and as long as Cymru can hold onto her, the future can only get better for this side.

Euros history:

Coming to the women’s football party later then a lot of other European countries, Cymru have always been a bit behind, only appointing a full-time manager in 2012. However, since then the dragons have gone from strength to strength, edging closer to qualification each tournament that passes.

How they qualified:

Being placed in a ‘league B’ group. Cymru knew they would have to go through the playoffs to qualify, but winning the group did give them a more favourable path through the playoffs, which is exactly what they did. In the first round of playoffs, Wales lost they away leg 2-1 but pulled it back 2-0 at home to win 3-2 on aggregate thanks to an extra time Jess Fishlock goal.

This got them into the final playoff, two legs against a favoured Ireland side that had beaten France merely months prior and qualified for the last World Cup. After a nervous draw in the home leg, they faced a tough task against a huge Irish crowd at the Aviva. Defending valiantly all game, two second half goals were enough to see Cymru to their first ever major tournament.

Strengths:

As they have shown in their Nations League group up against top European opponents (Sweden, Denmark, Italy), Rhian Wilkinson’s side work very hard off the ball and are difficult to break down – they rarely concede more than one or two goals in a game and this means they are hardly ever ‘out’ of any given match.

They are also able to counter-attack quickly, with pace in attacking areas and midfielders with the ability to play accurate long balls. This allows Cymru to punish teams that dominate the ball and play a high defensive line if they can keep the ball out of the net.

Development areas:

Whilst the defence is fantastic and Wilkinson builds the tactics to get the most out of her players, the top sides are going to score past you if they dominate possession. The midfield therefore will definitely need to focus on controlling the ball and dictating the overall play more to compete against the world class midfields they will face in the Euros. They could do with being more clinical too; when playing a counterattacking style the chances on goal are going to be few and far between so you need to score them when they do arise, and this is something which holds back Cymru.

Key players:

Jess Fishlock

Bigger than football in Wales itself, Jess Fishlock barely needs an introduction. Having bossed America, Australia, England and even the Netherlands for the last two decades; at the ripe age of 38 Fishlock is not done yet. The motivation of playing at a major tournament for Cymru has surely given her that drive to keep going, especially given how close they were to reaching the last few world cups. Whatever the result then, July is going to be a surreal and special moment for her.

On the pitch, Fishlock is more than just a talismanic figure. Her ability to move the ball is still world class; she’s probably still the best finisher on the team and with bags of experience and intelligence, she can read the game on a different level to the others. Keeping Fishlock fit and maximising her minutes will be Cymru’s most crucial task in the tournament.

Olivia Clark

However well Cymru perform at the Euros, they are going to face a lot of shots. That’s where goalkeeper Olivia Clark comes in. Even when the defence does its job, much responsibility still falls on the Leicester City goalkeeper to keep the opposition out. Not only are her reflexes to be tested, but she’ll need to be on tip top form in terms of kicking and aerial claims too, given how pinned in Wales are likely to be facing such world class opponents.

One to watch:

Liverpool attacking midfielder Ceri Holland had a good WSL campaign this year and she has also shone for Cymru since Wilkinson’s appointment. Employed as a attacking midfielder and sometimes as a winger for Cymru, Holland has exceptional passing ability and is often driving on attacks with her vision and poise on the ball.

With goalscoring opportunities limited, Cymru will be relying on Holland’s magic in the summer to create clear cut chances, whether that be a killer-accurate pass into the box through the defence, a looping cross or a long ball for the strikers to chase much of Cymru’s attacking threat will come through her.

Success would be:

Drawn into group D, which in these Championships really does stand for group of death. Containing the last two winners (England 2022, Netherlands 2017) alongside perennial contenders France, who have just trounced their Nations League group with six wins from six. Given this outstanding pedigree of opponents and given where Cymru’s level ultimately is; I think getting a point will constitute a successful Euros.

While this may sound harsh, I don’t think there are many teams in world football that would fancy themselves to get a point out of those three games. What I think is most important to emphasize is that just qualifying is an absolutely massive achievement for the country. Whatever occurs in the tournament, it will be a watershed moment for Cymru and will only push women’s football on.

Prediction:

I think they can do it, and while the Red Wall would love it to be against England; I see that first major tournament point coming earlier – in their first game in fact against the Dutch. With star striker Vivianne Miedema fighting to make the squad with a hamstring injury they will be most vulnerable at the beginning of the competition. If Cymru can put together a plan and execute it, this could catch the Netherlands off guard in the game they are probably focusing on least.

All it takes is a Dutch team that hasn’t quite gelled yet for Cymru to put them under pressure and whether they can find the back of the net or not I can see this game being 0-0 or 1-1. It is very hard to imagine Cymru getting any more than that; out of what is a dominant France team and the holding European Champions led by tournament specialist Sarina Wiegman.