Wilkinson says Wales must lift standards after 1-0 World Cup play-off win in Albania
Rhian Wilkinson said Wales must raise their standards after they scraped to a 1-0 victory in their Women's World Cup play-off semi-final in Albania on 9 October 2026, a result secured by Ezmiralda Franja's first-half own goal in Shkoder. The head coach said the result gives Wales the upper hand ahead of the second leg in Llanelli.
Wales travel home from Shkoder with a slender advantage after Franja's own goal decided a fixture in which Albania created the best openings, despite sitting 37 places below Wales in the Fifa rankings. Wilkinson set a clean sheet as the primary target for the away leg and her side achieved that, though their attacking threat was limited. The second leg is scheduled for Tuesday, 13 October at 19:15 BST and will be broadcast live on BBC iPlayer, BBC One Wales, BBC Sounds, BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru, the BBC Sport website and app, plus live text commentary.
Albania threatened on several occasions with Franja, Fortesa Berisha and Megi Doci all coming close to scoring, while Wales struggled to create sustained attacking momentum. Albania's failure to convert their chances proved decisive, meaning Wales took a positive result away from a match in which they were frustrated by aspects of their performance. The outcome mirrored Wales's pattern in the group stage, when they secured positive results despite being frustrated in their three away games of World Cup qualifying.
Reacting after the match, Wilkinson said: "We stuck with it. [It was a] resilient performance. Not our best, but equally, we learned to win on hard days, and today it wasn't our best." She added: "Coming home with [the win] is great. We're halfway there."
On defensive shortcomings and team development, Wilkinson said: "I didn't think we defended overly well today to be honest, but what we did do is we never quit." She also reflected on progress under her tenure: "I do think I've been in this job long enough to have seen that growth with this team, that we're finding ways to stick in the game. "And we've got to be happy with that right now because, again, we're away from home and in an environment where they made it really tough."
Wales enter the second leg with memories of a stronger meeting earlier in qualifying, when they beat Albania 4-0 in Wrexham en route to winning Group B4; that campaign also included a win over Montenegro in Llanelli and a 3-1 victory against the Czech Republic in Cardiff. They will return to Parc y Scarlets hoping another dominant home performance will send them through to a two-legged play-off final in December.
Wilkinson warned of Albania's intent ahead of the return fixture, saying: "Albania will feel like they were right in this game and they were. So we've got to make sure that we match their energy and take advantage of the stretch in the game that they're going to give us because they're going to go for it. "It's another battle. I'm confident in my team, but we've got to be ready to fight because definitely Albania will be."
Should Wales progress, they look likely to face Norway after Gemma Grainger's team won 2-0 in Romania on Friday; Norway are ranked 14th in the world. Even if Wales overcome Norway, they may then have to negotiate inter-confederation play-offs next February to secure a place at next summer's World Cup in Brazil.
The decisive second leg in Llanelli takes place on Tuesday, 13 October at 19:15 BST, with coverage available live on BBC iPlayer, BBC One Wales, BBC Sounds, BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru, and the BBC Sport website and app, plus live text commentary.
