Wales discover Euro 2025 playoff opponents

Wales have learned who their opponents will be in the Euro 2025 playoffs following Friday’s draw in Nyon.

Rhian Wilkinson’s side will have to come through two two-legged ties later this year in order to qualify for the tournament in Switzerland next July.

Wales and Ireland are on course for a potential round two showdown with each other, with Wales facing Slovakia in round one and the winner of that tie will progress to an encounter with the victor of Ireland’s clash with Georgia.

Rhino Wilkinson’s side topped Group B4 in the first stage of qualifying with an undefeated campaign, scoring 18 goals in six games, and confidence will be high as they prepare for the next challenge starting with an away match in Slovakia on Friday, 25 October. The return match will then take place at the Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday, 29 October and the winners of the tie will then progress to Round 2 and play either Georgia or the Republic of Ireland in November and December for a place at the 2025 finals that will take place in Switzerland.

“We have four more games, hopefully,” said Wilkinson following the draw. “We have to get through the first round and then the next round with two more. It is a marathon. People forget I had two weeks before our first qualifying games just working for results and now what I’m loving is seeing the team start to express themselves. The real freedom on the field, knowing that we’ve got to be better every single game. We’ve got to be better because we’re hoping to make history.

“They’ve had some heartbreaks in the past and that’s tough. They bring that with them, but that is why I think it’s so important that we’ve got a wonderful mix of senior experience, but also a lot of youth, and the naivety of youth is pretty special. They don’t have those scars, they have the eternal optimism that we need. I have said to the team that we’re going to need the experienced players to step-up and lead, and we’re going to need our young players to show up and give us the kick when we need it because they don’t have any scarring. This is just a a really exciting opportunity for them and they’re going to need each other if we’re going to be successful.”

Wales are currently undefeated in eight games, a run that started with an impressive 0-0 draw with Germany that would prove to be former head coach Gemma Grainger’s final match before she made the switch to Norway. Cymru have also conceded just three goals in those last eight games and Wilkinson believes her squad of players and staff are in a good place following the first part of the qualifying campaign.

“They’ve done really well,” she explained. “They didn’t know me and they go straight into a qualifying campaign where I’m asking them to to play slightly differently, to do things they haven’t maybe done or been asked to do in the past. The staff has almost completely changed and they’ve had to get on board really, really quickly. That’s not easy, no-one likes change and footballers hate change! They like how they do things, and so it’s a real testament to the group that I have.

“Especially when you talk about some of the experienced players, they also know exactly how they like things. There’s always a bit of a balance and they’ve been superb with it. I’m just so impressed with their professionalism and what they’ve been willing to give me with their energy and their efforts. I’ve loved watching them grow as a team and we’re really excited to to get back together. It’s going be a bit of a wait though for the next games against Slovakia.”

Like Cymru, Slovakia have never qualified for the finals of a major women’s tournament and are currently 50th in the FIFA World Rankings, while Cymru have moved up one place to 31st following their recent run of results. The last time Cymru and Slovakia met was back in June 2013 when they played two friendly internationals in Senec which both ended in draws. The last time Cymru competed in the play-offs, a new attendance record for a home women’s match was set in Cardiff as 15,200 fans turned out at the Cardiff City Stadium in October 2022 for the victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina to setup the final against Switzerland.

“We’ll absolutely watch all the opposition,” Wilkinson added. “I have an incredible team around me, so we all know our roles and we all know our strengths. It’s great to now know the path, but of course we’ve got a challenge in Slovakia home and away to take care of before we look any further. I think the two experiences of lots of goal scoring, but also a few challenging games where we’ve had to really grind out results have meant that the team is best placed to to make sure we’re ready for whatever we face in the coming games. We have to keep true to who we are and what I believe in as a coach, while also not being naive to the opposition strengths that we need to take care of.”

The seven play-off winners will join hosts Switzerland and direct qualifiers Denmark, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain in the draw for the finals on December 16