Wales EURO 2025 Qualification: What Do They Need To Get To Switzerland?
Wales women face Croatia and Kosovo this week on the latest stop in their journey to qualifying for EURO 2025 in Switzerland.
New manager Rhian Wilkinson’s stint in charge of the national team got off to a flyer, beating Kosovo and Croatia 0-6 and 4-0 respectively in the reverse fixtures in April.
The positivity around the squad was dampened somewhat due to back-to-back draws home and away against Ukraine, leaving Wales second in the group, behind Croatia.
Their most recent fixture, a 2-2 draw with Ukraine, was particularly agonising, as Wilkinson’s side looked to have won the game thanks to second half goals from Barton and Fishlock, before a 98th minute equaliser from the home side.
Wilkinson’s side look more adventurous going forward in their four matches, than they did under Wilkinson’s predecessor Gemma Grainger, with Rachel Rowe, Kayleigh Barton, and Jess Fishlock all scoring three goals each.
Only world champions Spain, with 15 goals, have scored more than Wales’ 13 during qualifying so far.
Crowds have been good too, with more than 4,000 in attendance in Wrexham and Llanelli for their two home games so far.
What are their remaining fixtures?
On Friday evening, Wales play Croatia at the Stadion Branko Čavlović-Čavlek in Karlovac.
If they beat the Croatian side, they will leapfrog them in the group standings and re-take first place. This, as will be explained later, could be key to who Wales play in the first and second rounds of the play-offs.
Kosovo are the last side Wales face in the group, with the 95th ranked team in the world travelling to Parc y Scarlets, having beaten soundly beaten 6-0 in the reverse fixture in Podujevo.
While Wales will be pretty confident of getting the full six points from these two fixtures, their difficulty in breaking down Ukraine’s defensive set-up may give their opponents some clue in how to frustrate Wilkinson’s side.
An Eye on the future
New manager Rhian Wilkinson can now start to plan for the longer term, albeit still with one eye on this week’s matches against Kosovo and Croatia that could determine the difficulty of the test Wales face in the play-off rounds.
With qualification long and arduous, Wales have boosted their chances with previous results. The question on fans lips will now be: what do Rhian Wilkinson’s team need to do in order to qualify for Switzerland 2025?
As mentioned, previous group stage results mean that Wales have now qualified for the play-offs. The play-offs have two rounds which are outlined below:
First Round of Play-Offs
Eight teams from League A (this currently includes the likes of England, Italy, and Austria) play the eight best ranked teams from League C.
Separately, the group winners, runners-up and third-placed teams in League B (which includes Wales) play each other in six fixtures.
Wales are currently one of the seeded teams for this round, meaning that they will be drawn against a team who has finished second or third in their group.
In order to stay as a seeded team for the first round, Wales need to either beat Croatia on Friday evening and win the group, or take four points from their two games this week.
Second Round of Play-Offs
If Wales win their first-round match, they progress as one of 14 teams in seven ties.
The seven highest ranked teams, according to their previous performance in qualifying, will be seeded.
Wales will potentially be one of those seeded teams if they top their group.
If Wales win that game, they will qualify for their first ever European Championships, with the 2025 edition held in Switzerland.
The first and second rounds will be both include home and away legs, with the seeded teams earning the privilege of playing their second leg at home.
Group B4 Standings:
Croatia Pld: 4 W: 3 D: 0 L: 1 GF: 4 GA: 4 Pts: 9 Remaining Fixtures: Wales (H) 12th July, Ukraine (A) 16th July.
Wales Pld: 4 W: 2 D: 2 L: 0 GF: 13 GA: 3 Pts: 8 Remaining Fixtures: Croatia (A) 12th July, Kosovo (H) 16th July.
Ukraine Pld: 4 W: 1 D: 2 L: 1 GF: 5 GA: 4 Pts: 4 Remaining Fixtures: Kosovo (H) 12th July, Croatia (H) 16th July.
Kosovo Pld: 4 W: 0 D: 0 L: 4 GF: 0 GA: 11 Pts: 0 Remaining Fixtures: Ukraine (A) 12th July, Wales (A) 16th July.
