It’s fitting the Wales squad for Euro 2025 will be unveiled on June 19 at the summit of Yr Wyddfa, 1,085 meters above sea level.
For so long, the pinnacle of international football remained out of Wales’ reach. With each World Cup or European Championship qualifying campaign, painful near misses and agonizing last-minute goals sent them tumbling back down the mountain every two years, as they tried in vain to reach a major tournament.
That was until the night of Dec. 2, 2024, when they finally conquered their own Everest.
When the full-time whistle went in Dublin, crowning Wales’ 2-1 win over the Republic of Ireland and granting Rhian Wilkinson’s side a place in Euro 2025, there was a collective exhale across the Welsh football scene. For former Wales internationals who had retired, qualification was an exorcism; for those still playing, it mended broken hearts as they embarked on new territories in the red shirt.
Helen Ward, Wales’ second-highest goal scorer (with 44 goals in 105 games) and now head of women’s football at Watford, was speechless in the commentary box. “I don’t think I spoke for 10 minutes or so, which isn’t ideal when you’re doing radio commentary,” she tells ESPN.
Elsewhere, Wales’ second-most-capped player and current midfield linchpin Sophie Ingle was down by the pitch, then just three months into rehabilitation after tearing her ACL. She tried to compose herself for postmatch punditry duties, only for her teammates to kidnap her to join the celebrations.
“At first I took a moment and was just like ‘Wow, we’ve finally done it,'” Ingle tells ESPN. “Then I had to think about what I was going to say, but soon the girls took me away to celebrate with them. I felt bad as I was there to work, but the producers were great, telling me to go and enjoy the moment.”
Once the team’s headaches abated, Wales faced the brutal reality of the challenge ahead. A fortnight after Dublin, Wales were drawn in the same group as France, Netherlands and England for Euro 2025.
“My first reaction was, well, ‘ah yikes,'” Ingle says. “But we go there with zero pressure and have an incredible chance to enjoy ourselves.”
Ward laughs at the memory of when she saw Wales drop into Group D: “It’s going to be tough, but it’s exciting. When you get to these major tournaments, you may as well play the big guns, so let’s go get it.”
But though Wales head to the Euros as outsiders to escape their group, there’s something that data and logic can’t quantify: their heart. And there’s precedent here.
“Little old Wales are going to go and try and make a splash, just like the men did in Euro 2016 when they reached the semifinals,” Ward says. “Being underdogs is where we feel most comfortable.”
A rocky road
Long before this team was even born, there was a group of women who independently formed the Wales national team in 1973. But it wasn’t until 20 years later when players finally persuaded the Football Association of Wales (FAW) to take on management of the women’s side in 1993.
It was far from smooth sailing. There were plenty of obstacles: like in 2003 when the FAW withdrew the team from qualification for Euro 2005, citing financial concerns over the cost of travel to Belarus, Estonia, Israel and Kazakhstan.
“The players find this decision devastating,” then-Wales manager Sian Williams said at the time. “If third-world countries in financial terms can afford to put a team in the European Championships, why can’t Wales?”
All the while the players continued trying to break down the door. Ward’s international career started in 2008 and lasted through to 2023, but she remembers those who blazed a trail before her. “Those players that started the team are the heroes for us,” she says. “There’s a deep connection from player No. 1 right up to whatever we are now. When I played, we had a wall with everyone’s legacy number on it, and I think that’s so important.”
Ingle, 33, who recently left Chelsea after 214 appearances, is continuing her comeback from the ACL injury she suffered back in September in the hope of making it to Switzerland.
“It’s always so important to look back and thank those people because if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be in the position we are now,” she adds. “We are still having to break down certain barriers, but what they did allowed us to be here now.
“It wasn’t a dream to play for Wales when I was young, because I didn’t know they existed. They weren’t on TV like they are today. I played for Dinas Powys Ladies [a club south-west of Cardiff], and then I joined Cardiff, and from there, I went into the Wales team as most of the national team were at Cardiff. I made my debut in 2007 in Azerbaijan, in front of about 20 people. I played left back, even though I’d never played there before. I think I was the only player who could use their left foot. I was quite shy, a little scared of the older players, but I felt better once on the pitch.”
All the while, the players challenged the FAW to improve their hand. Their kit was hand-me-down shirts from the men’s team, all baggy extra-large clothing.
“This was the norm, we didn’t know any different,” Ingle says. “You were still so grateful, it’d be like ‘wow, I’ve got a Wales kit.’ It’d be huge on you, but you got to take it home.”
The day the women’s team finally got their names on the back of their shirts was a big day.
Structure and professionalism
In 2010, Finland’s Jarmo Matikainen was appointed manager. And both Ingle and Ward credit him with bringing a professional outlook to the national team.
“He was military tough,” Ingle says. “We didn’t have pro contracts then, so it was a case of everyone just turning up. But he brought in a professional outlook — a focus on fitness, conduct on and off the field, what we wore, and never being late. He left us in a good place and gave us the building blocks for Jayne [Ludlow, who took charge in 2014].”
Ingle was appointed Wales captain in 2015, an honor and responsibility she held through to 2024.
“You’re constantly doing things, whether it’s news conferences, meetings with staff, talking contracts, pushing for things off the pitch, like, ‘Why are we getting three flights to Portugal?'” she says. “The answer would be ‘because it’s cheaper,’ but of course that’s not ideal. After a while, [the captaincy] did take its toll on me.”
Both Ingle and Ward remember one infamous trip to Kazakhstan in 2016. “We had to get three flights there, down to Shymkent,” Ingle says. “Things have improved now — in our last match there in 2022 we got a direct flight, with food on the plane. But back then, the hotel was two hours away from the training pitch and the bus constantly broke down. It finally overheated, and the back of the bus was basically on fire.”
Ward continues: “We also had to take a whole load of food with us, like pot noodles and non-perishables, as we weren’t sure what we were going to be fed. We’re not princesses by any means, but some of the accommodation we’ve been put up in wasn’t fit for purpose, whether you’re a footballer or just travelling.”
On the field, after taking charge in 2014, Ludlow gave Wales structure at the back. “We were defensively solid,” Ingle says. “But perhaps we didn’t score enough goals.”
Wales finished second in their qualifying group ahead of the World Cup 2019 — complete with their first-ever result against England, a 0-0 draw at Southampton on April 6, 2018 — but didn’t earn enough points to make the playoffs. In 2019-20 ahead of Euro 2022, they finished level on points with Northern Ireland but lost out on head-to-head away goals between the two teams. — Northern Ireland drew 2-2 at Wales, and Wales drew 0-0 in the return leg.
“I don’t think anybody knew we had to score away at Northern Ireland,” Ingle says. “But I don’t think we were consistent enough at that point.”
Gemma Grainger took over as manager in March 2021 and, in qualification for the 2023 World Cup, she led Wales to second place behind France and secured a spot in the playoffs. Just two matches stood between them and their first major tournament. First up was Bosnia and Herzegovina on Oct. 6, 2022 in Cardiff. Before their match, Ingle published an open letter, calling on the Welsh public to turn out at the Cardiff City Stadium and support them. And the call was answered as a record crowd of 15,200 showed up.
“That was one of my proudest moments,” Ward says. “That was a case of ‘wow, look where we’ve come from.'”
A 1-0 win in extra time ensured the final hurdle came against Switzerland in Zurich five days later. After 120 minutes it was 1-1 and penalties loomed, only for Fabienne Humm to slide in a last-minute winner at the near post. The Wales team was devastated. “I went into the changing room and everyone was silent,” Ingle says. “No one was on their phones, which is unusual. I said a few words, but don’t remember what I said; it was something about the heartache that makes you appreciate things when you do make it. It hurt.
“The Switzerland match is one of the very few I didn’t watch back. But looking back now, I think we were tense, we didn’t want to take risks. I think as a team, when we look back now, were we ready? It might be harsh, but I wonder if we believed we could qualify and if we were ready to do it. We said we believed, but did we? I’m not sure. I think the near misses played on people’s minds.”
Ward was an extra-time substitute against Switzerland and retired from international football a few months later on March 2, finishing her career at the end of that season. During her 15-year international career, she’d had two children, won 105 caps, become Wales’ all-time top scorer with 44 goals (until Jess Fishlock overtook her in July 2024), and established herself as a legend of the game.
“It breaks my heart that I didn’t make it to a major tournament with this team, that I wasn’t at my peak when so many of my teammates were and are,” she said at the time. “But I know they will make it soon and they will shine on the biggest stage of all and I can’t wait to be their best cheerleader when that happens.”
A time of transition
In January 2024, Grainger left to take charge of Norway and Wilkinson was appointed her successor in February. But in April, after their opening qualifying match in UEFA League B for Euro 2025, Ingle decided to hand back the captain’s armband in order to “focus on football.”
She continued to play a key role in Wales’ qualifying campaign, but her world was upended in September when she tore the ACL and other ligaments in her right knee in a preseason match for Chelsea against Feyenoord. “I said at the time to my family that if we qualified for the Euros then I’d aim to be fit for that,” she says. “If we didn’t make it, then I’d have extra time to be fit for the new season.”
Being in UEFA League B allowed Wales to build confidence as they remained unbeaten in the group stage, which advanced them to the playoffs as a seeded side. There they defeated Slovakia and faced the Republic of Ireland over two legs. They drew in Cardiff 1-1 and then travelled to Dublin for that famous night in December 2024 where goals from Hannah Cain and Carrie Jones booked their spot at Euro 2025.
“Qualifying for the Euros has been the best thing possible for my rehabilitation,” Ingle says. “I’ve had a focus in the gym every day.”
Wilkinson has been a driving force behind Wales’ run — Ingle says: “We know we’re going to score. We’re going to be defensively solid, we can hit teams on the counter attack, and we have space to take risks and shine as well” — but the squad’s strength in depth, and how talented younger players are blending with veterans such as Fishlock, Angharad James-Turner, Hayley Ladd and Ingle, has also been key.
“There’s a lot more confidence in the players and I think the squad depth and the use of the squad has been a huge shift,” Ward says. “When I played, you pretty much knew what the starting XI would be. But the younger players are no longer making up the numbers, they’re making the difference. Players like Carrie Jones or others, like [18-year-old defender] Mayzee Davies — she may not start at the Euros but she’s been great and has held her own against the world’s best. She’s always going to have that in her locker.”
Essential to Wales’ long-term success is inspiring the next generation, and both Ward and Ingle have seen increased interest in the women’s team over the past few years. “We’ve gone from playing at Neath, Barry Town and Bangor City, but I think we’ve outgrown those venues now,” Ward says. “We’re now playing at the big three of Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham.”
And, ahead of the summer, the team is doing its part to inspire the country. On June 1, Wales funded a festival called “Ein Dathliad” (For Her) in Pontypridd, where 400 or so girls played some casual football and met the team — which ran alongside the annual South Wales Women & Girls League tournament. “We’re always trying to push the foundation for more,” Ward says. “One of the big things is having safe spaces for young girls to play football.”
Yet to reach their peak
With the trip to Switzerland less than a month away now, Ingle is still hopeful of being fit and dreaming of the chance to finally play in a major tournament.
“I think we’re playing with more freedom now,” Ingle says. “We’ve got that pressure off our shoulders of qualifying, and you’re seeing it now in our 1-1 draws with Sweden this year. I think we’re playing with more positivity and we know we can score and get results against the big teams. For me, yes it’s a tight time frame, but let’s give it everything.”
Meanwhile, Ward wants Wales to emulate the men’s Euro 2016 team and make a deep run into the knockout stages.
“I think the impact could be massive,” she says. “We saw the impact Wales’ men had in 2016 in the Gareth Bale tournament. Since then, we’ve been trying to emulate what they did. You feel the buzz in Wales, people coming up to you, telling you how excited they are to see the girls play. I know we are going to put on a show, and give everything.
“Hopefully, it’ll have a similar impact when they’re coming home as heroes, and all the little girls and boys have new superstars to look up to.”
But Wales haven’t yet peaked. While playing in a major tournament remained out of reach for so long, the team believe Euro 2025 will be just the start of their experience of major tournaments.
“Qualifying for a major tournament is no longer Everest anymore,” Ward says. “This will be the peak for some players’ careers and their Everest, but we are still on the way up. I like to think this is more like Everest base camp. We’ve still got World Cups and Euros to come, which is so exciting to think about.”
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