Rhian Wilkinson and Ceri Holland were full of praise for Wales as they beat Czechia 3-1 at the Cardiff City Stadium to finish top of Group B1.

Goals from Lily Woodham, Gemma Evans, and Mared Griffiths saw Wales through to a comfortable victory over their main rivals in the World Cup qualifying group.

Wilkinson hailed both the resilience and evolution of her Wales side after they came from behind to beat Czechia 3–1 and clinch top spot in their 2027 World Cup qualifying group.

“It’s not the ideal start,” she admitted of conceding early, “but we do like to do things a difficult way.”

From there, Wales imposed themselves with and without the ball.

Wilkinson had challenged her players “to raise the bar and to perform at home in front of our fantastic fans, and to enjoy football,” and she felt they delivered on that demand through their work-rate and combinations.

“When you’re together, when you defend together, when you attack together, when you create these triangles and the plus ones, football is fun,” she said.

“They really did a great job today.”

The variety of Wales’ attacking threat pleased her as much as the scoreline.

“We scored some good goals, and different goal scorers, and that’s also important for us. Always good to get a set piece goal.”

Wilkinson was clear this was about more than one night. She set her side the target of winning the group and going undefeated – and they delivered.

“We’ve made the playoffs, so yes, the ambition was to win the group and to go undefeated, and that is what we did,” she added.

“We did not have our best performance every game, but this group has finished with a performance that I think is right up there with some of our best.”

Crucially, she believes this team can now aim high.

Asked if Wales can reach the World Cup in Brazil next summer, she was unequivocal: “Why not on our day? Why not?

“We’ve got some fabulous players who any country would be proud to have on the field. It is important that we have a squad and not just 11 players.”

Wales’ player of the match Holland also hailed a “fantastic performance” as she laid on a fabulous assist for the third and final goal, scored by Griffiths.

“We knew the pressure was on, it was a must‑win game,” Holland said afterwards.

“Really happy – obviously a really strong performance, the girls are happy and looking forward to a little bit of time off. But it was a fantastic performance in front of our fans in Cardiff City Stadium.”

Finishing top means Wales will be seeded for October’s play‑off semi-final, a target Holland said had been clear from the outset.

“It was really important for us to make sure we tried to be seeded in that playoff semi-final. We knew the path if we won the game, it’s a must‑win game for us, that’s how we viewed it.

“Happy to get the job done, looking forward to the draw, looking forward to how the path is looking.”

This has been a campaign of transition after the retirement of key senior figures, Jess Fishlock and Kayleigh Barton, but Holland believes the squad has grown through the bumps.

“We lost some massive characters, we can’t shy away from that,” she admitted.

“It’s been tricky at times, but we’ve also had some really big moments, and I think tonight it all came together.

“It’s just about transitioning, and we’ll continue to grow. We’ll continue to make mistakes as well, but I think we’re learning from mistakes quicker than previously.”

Her own display earned player of the match, capped by a fine assist for the third goal. For Holland, the bigger prize is still some distance away – but firmly in sight.

“I think [the World Cup] would be the pinnacle of my career,” she said.

“We’re on the right path, it’s about going one step at a time.”

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