Rhian Wilkinson led Wales to their first major tournament in 2025
Rhian Wilkinson says Wales will need to show courage in their World Cup play-offs rather than fear. after being handed a possible tie against Norway in the race to reach Brazil 2027.
Wales must beat Albania. then either Romania or Norway in successive two-legged play-off ties if they are to reach next year's tournament.
Wilkinson's side were in the same group as Albania in their qualifying campaign - winning 4-0 in Wrexham. 1-0 away from home.
Wales. who topped League B Group 1 ahead of the Czech Republic, will be away in the first leg of round one on 9 October before hosting the Albanians - who finished third in the group - in the second leg on 13 October.
Should they win that tie on aggregate, Wales will then play the winners of the match between Romania. Norway, who are managed by former Wales boss Gemma Grainger.
Wales, who have never beaten a top-20 side in a competitive fixture, will be home for the first leg on 1 December. away in the second leg on 5 December should they make it through to round two.
Wilkinson says facing Norway - currently 14th in the world rankings - would be an "incredible challenge". one they have to embrace.
"If we want to be a side that makes major tournaments, then we have to be able to confidently show up against teams ranked higher than us. know that we're going to put in a strong performance," she said.
"Norway would be an incredible challenge, but a wonderful challenge.
"We can't be frightened of not showing up and giving everything. I'd like to take a more courageous stance, and I hope they (the players) follow me with it."
Wales faced Albania in their League B Group 1 qualifying campaign, winning both home and away
Wilkinson says Wales have learned from their experience at Euro 2025, when they stuggled to make an impact against three of the world's best teams - Netherlands, France. England.
"I think we all learned a lot through the Euros - myself, my staff, the players," she said.
"Do I wish I'd coached differently? Parts of it, absolutely. I'm sure they (the players) look back on it and think like 'what if, what if we could have..'
"But you don't know until you've been to a major event what it's going to be like. what the pressure feels like, what the stress feels like.
"We talked about it, we prepared for it,. it still blew us away, but there's confidence that comes from having done it.
"I also look at our last Nations League A campaign - two draws against Sweden,. also keeping the scores really competitive against some top nations."
Wales will have to improve their away form if they are to get through the play-offs. make it to Brazil.
Wilkinson's side sailed through their home qualifiers, with a 6-1 mauling of Montenegro, a 4-0 romp past Albania. a 3-1 win over Czech Republic to wrap up the group.
On the road. however, they were fortunate to salvage a draw in the Czech Republic in their opening qualifier in March, then scraped a 1-0 victory in Albania before a shock 1-1 draw in Montenegro in the penultimate match.
"We were a bit frustrated when we played Albania away (in April),. this is a good opportunity to improve our performance against a challenging opposition," said Wilkinson.
"I thought (Albania) played really well in that second leg, so they'll be tough. It'll be a good tactical battle between them and us, and who's learnt the most.
"It was obvious from our campaign that our away form wasn't what we wanted it to be. There's definitely some work to be done away from home.
"It's about showing up with the best version of ourselves."
And there we have it: Wales will almost certainly have to beat a top-20 side for the first time in a competitive game if they're to reach their first World Cup finals.
Assuming Wales get past Albania, they'd expect to come up against Norway in round two.. unless Romania can pull off a big shock. make a mockery of the 39 places between those two teams in the world rankings.
Wales were beaten home. away by Norway the last time the sides met - in the qualifying campaign for Euro 2022.
Norway are currently 14th in the world having come second to Germany in their qualifying group.
It's a big challenge, but by no means impossible for Wales. One I'm sure head coach Wilkinson will embrace as she bids to get Wales to the second major tournament in their history.
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