Wales Women’s head coach Rhian Wilkinson said her side have provided “a generation of football that’s going to change everything” after qualifying for their first major tournament.
Wales booked their place at the 2025 European Championship after a 2-1 victory over the Republic of Ireland secured a 3-2 aggregate play-off win.
Goals from Hannah Cain and Carrie Jones saw Wales to victory at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday despite a late header from Anna Patten halving the deficit for the hosts, as they confirmed their place at next summer’s tournament in Switzerland.
“This is a special team,” Wilkinson told BBC Sport. “My staff are another level and this team, how they don’t quit… they never do things the easy way.
“This team found a way. They never broke for each other, they stayed strong. I’ve never been prouder of a team.
“This team stands on the shoulder of giants who came before, and now they’ve proven how good they are.
“They’re better than they think and they just have to see it and live it and experience it.
“Those boys and girls back home are seeing a generation of football that’s going to change everything.”
Wales were beaten in the play-offs by Switzerland as they missed out on a place at the 2023 World Cup, and narrowly failed to reach the play-offs for Euro 2022 by virtue of their head to head record with Northern Ireland in their qualification group.
Former Portland Thorns head coach Wilkinson was appointed Wales boss in February, succeeding Gemma Grainger, who had departed in January to take the Norway job. She has led Wales to a major tournament at the first time of asking.
(Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
