Wales 'all in' for 2027 World Cup - Wilkinson

Rhian Wilkinson says Wales must believe they can challenge for a place at the 2027 Women's World Cup even if qualification for the next European Championship is a more realistic target.

Wales have been drawn alongside the Czech Republic, Albania and Montenegro in Group B1 in World Cup qualifying.

With no opportunity to qualify automatically for the tournament because they are in League B, Wales will need to come through a play-off campaign which could feature three stages if they are to claim a place in Brazil in 2027.

Wales are a team in transition following the international retirement of star player Jess Fishlock – plus striker Kayleigh Barton – in the wake of Euro 2025.

While Wilkinson says Wales are at the start of a new four-year cycle leading up the 2029 Euros, she insisted after Tuesday's draw in Switzerland that her team can mount a World Cup qualification challenge.

"I think we've got to believe that we're in a decent position to go for the World Cup," the Wales head coach said.

"I realistically think if we're going to be bringing through our young players and giving them experience and opportunities that the four-year cycle to the next Euros is when we'll have the team – [although] they'll still be a little young then - in a more experienced position.

"But we're all in for this World Cup and looking forward to giving it everything we have."

On paper, the qualifying draw was reasonably kind to Wales – although it could have been better.

Wales were in pot one in League B, with four pots in each league.

Czech Republic were the second-best ranked side in pot two, below Scotland, having come close to qualifying for Euro 2025 as they lost out to Portugal in the play-off second round.

The Czechs are ranked 31st in the world by Fifa, one place higher than Wales, who they most recently met in 2019, when the two sides drew 0-0. The lowest-ranked team in pot two were Northern Ireland, in 44th.

Albania are ranked 72nd in the world – the lowest in pot three – while Montenegro, in 85th, were the highest-ranked side in pot four.

Wilkinson said the draw would leave Wales' staff to "dig right into our research" as they prepare to face unfamiliar opponents.

"I think the last team we played was Czech Republic in 2019 from my quick research, so we don't know much about these teams," she added.

"Czech Republic is obviously ahead of us in the rankings so I think it'll be a tough group and some good challenges as well - new opposition to face that we have to prepare for."

Wales are in the midst of a miserable run of form, with no win in 11 games since they beat Republic of Ireland in December 2024 to qualify for Euro 2025, the first major tournament in their history.

Wales have lost seven games in succession – their worst run since the 1990s – having played a number of higher-ranked sides in 2025.

Even with Fishlock gone, there will be greater expectation levels as Wales prepare return to League B.

When they last played at that level, Wilkinson's side finished unbeaten – winning four an drawing two of six group games – en route to Euro 2025 qualification.

Wilkinson says topping the group this time around is "absolutely" Wales' target.

"I don't think we can shy away from that," she said. "But it will be a tough job to get that done."

In short, it is far from simple.

Qualifying for the World Cup follows the same format as the Nations League and is split into three tiers.

Only the four group winners in League A automatically qualify for the finals, with the rest having to come through play-offs.

The group games will be played across six matchdays, on a home and away basis, during 2026, starting on 3 March and finishing on 9 June.

Assuming they do not finish bottom of their group – which would be disastrous – Wales will then face the play-offs late in 2026.

Should Wales win their group, their first-round play-off would be against a side who finish second or third in a League B pool.

But if Wilkinson's team finish second or third in their group, they would face a side who finish in fourth place in League A or a Group B winner.

The second round of the play-offs is seeded and if, Wales get that far, they would likely face League A opposition.

Even a win at that stage may not mean Wales' job is done, because the lowest-ranked of the eight European sides who come through the play-offs will go into inter-confederation play-offs in February 2027. Wales could conceivably be that side.

For the moment, Wilkinson says, she is not looking beyond Czech Republic, Albania and Montenegro.

"We've got to take care of the business in front of us," she said.

"We have a lot to do and then we'll start looking at play-offs. That will be the next thing we look at."

The road to Brazil begins next spring, but there will be another opportunity to prepare when Wales' squad come together at the end of this month.

Wales are hoping to arrange at least one friendly, which would mean a chance to end their losing streak before competitive football returns.

Wilkinson was left frustrated with Wales' most recent defeat, against Poland in a friendly last week, which came on the back of a narrow loss to Australia in Fishlock's farewell game.

Despite those setbacks, Wilkinson says there are positive signs for Wales as they look forward to a new campaign.

"I think we're in a good spot," she said.

"We've had our retirements, we've had our friendlies, so I've been able to look at a few things.

"I feel very confident that we'll go into that first window [in 2026] excited and ready to really compete."