James says Wales received play-off history lesson ahead of Albania semi in Llanelli
Captain Angharad James said Wales’ players were given a play-off history lesson as they prepare to take a 1-0 lead into their Women’s World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final second leg against Albania in Llanelli on Tuesday, 13 October at 19:15 BST.
James is only four appearances away from reaching 150 Wales caps and has underlined the squad’s collective briefing as part of the build-up to the match.
The players held a meeting on the first day of camp intended to integrate the group and ensure those new to the squad understood the stakes. "We had a players' meeting on the first day just to integrate the group and to make sure everyone was aware of the importance of this camp and what it means to represent Wales and what it means to be in a play-off position," James said. "[The meeting was] just to make sure everyone's up to speed." Wales have reached the play-off stages of qualifying for a major tournament only three times in the women’s side’s history; their first attempt in qualifying for the 2023 World Cup ended when Gemma Grainger's team, having beaten Bosnia-Herzegovina in the semi-final, lost to a goal late in extra time of the final in Switzerland, while two years later Wales overcame Slovakia and the Republic of Ireland to reach Euro 2025.
James, 32, who has 146 caps and plays for Seattle Reign, said she and a core group had experienced both the pain of defeat and the joy of qualification. "[They were] two very different feelings after both games," James said. "The feeling that we had out in Switzerland, going so close in extra time and narrowly missing out, it fuelled us for Dublin. There's a big group of us that experienced that and at the start of this camp we made sure the whole group was aware of how it feels to be on both ends of that." Thanks in part to a lengthy injury list, she is one of only five players who began the decisive game in Dublin 22 months ago who are in contention to start against Albania.
The squad also used lighter moments from past success in their briefing, with centre-back Gemma Evans featuring in the meeting for a notorious image from the Aviva Stadium victory. "The highs of that [included] Gemma losing a tooth and unfortunately it made it on to the big screen, we showed the girls that," James said with a smile. "We've had so many high moments with this group and hopefully we've got the biggest one yet to come with the World Cup."
Wales must improve after what the report described as a scruffy display in Shkoder last Friday, despite having beaten Albania twice during the group phase of this qualifying campaign. James, who has said she believes the qualification process should be simplified, stressed the immediate focus is on the semi-final second leg. "If we overthink that we have a 1-0 advantage then I don't think it's a good thing as players," she said. "So we're focusing on it being a new 90-minute game. It's a clean sheet and we're going out there to perform and to win again."
Should Wales advance, Wilkinson's team will face a play-off final in early December, probably against a Norway side who are ranked 14th in the world; Norway play their second leg at home to Romania on Tuesday evening after winning 2-0 away in the first leg. Even if Wales were to come through a potential Norway final, they may then have to negotiate inter-confederation play-offs next February before a World Cup place is guaranteed.
The play-off semi-final second leg takes place on Tuesday, 13 October at 19:15 BST and will be shown live on BBC iPlayer, BBC One Wales, BBC Sounds, BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru, BBC Sport website and app, plus live text commentary.
