Wilkinson relief as Wales win to remove ‘burden’

With a 3-2 friendly victory over Switzerland, Wales ended their 12-game winless streak to finish 2025 on a high, according to head coach Rhian Wilkinson.

Wales defeated the Euro 2025 quarter-finalists in Jerez, Spain, thanks to the efforts of Sophie Ingle, Hannah Cain, and Lily Woodham.

Wales held on for their first victory since their play-off triumph against the Republic of Ireland almost 12 months ago, ending a second-long stretch without a victory in their history.

The string of results, the questions I have to answer, haven’t bothered me, Wilkinson said, “I can pretend all I want.”

It is a burden, though. You don’t have to answer the question, said one of the players. It is accurate.

Wales had lost nine games so far without a win, with the most recent winless run being against South Korea in Malaga, where they were drawn against Sweden in the Nations League in the spring, and a third time.

After suffering colossal defeats from the Netherlands, France, and England, Wilkinson’s team lost to the Netherlands twice in the Nations League, both of which were defeated by Italy and Denmark.

Wales were severely defeated by Poland in a second friendly in Newport in October, which saw the end of star player Jess Fishlock’s international career.

Former Canada defender Wilkinson claimed that her players “absolutely rose to the occasion” against opponents who were ranked 24th in the world by Fifa, eight places higher than Wales.

She continued, “I believe every game we’ve played this year was against teams that are ranked higher than us.”

However, we’ve been knocking on the door and going toe-to-toe for a while, and this performance was crucial, especially as the year came to an end.

Everyone mentioned our recent run of successes, and I fully understand that, but I would say that because of how confident they are in their ball, this team is almost unrecognizable.

I believe we will be in a great position as soon as they begin to believe this team is really good.

In March, Wales’ campaign will begin with a trip to the Czech Republic and a home matchup against Montenegro in order to qualify for the 2027 World Cup.