Wales reacts as World Cup set to be hosted in the nation in 2035
CARDIFF, WALES - 03 APRIL 2025: Wales Women's National Team Manager Rhian Wilkinson and Wales' Hayley Ladd during at press conference at Hensol Castle in Cardiff on the 3rd April 2025. (Pic by Ashley Crowden/FAW)
Barring any major difficulty, Wales and the rest of the home nations look set to host the World Cup in 2035.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced this morning that the home nations bid was the sole bidder for the 2035 tournament, meaning Wales could welcome some of the globe’s biggest stars in a decade’s time.
The world’s biggest event is still a long way away, but manager Rhian Wilkinson played in a home World Cup in 2015, and she’s excited about the opportunities that can come with hosting such a major tournament.
“It’s obviously incredible news, really exciting. As a Canadian that played in a home World Cup in 2015, knowing what a big tournament can do for a country, how things become more visible, especially knowing this is such a catalyst time for us in the women’s game.
“Equally, it’s that far down the road that we can just put it over there, but knowing it’s coming is something we’re looking forward to, and it’s definitely part of our bigger legacy piece.”
Some of the squad have been quick to react to the news. Jess Fishlock on Twitter jokingly said she had another ten years left in her, while Wilkinson quipped that Hayley Ladd could even be the manager by then.
Ladd played that comment off, but the Evertonian echoed the sentiments of her manager when reacting to the news.
“I don’t know if I’ve got ten more years left in me! It’s great for Wales to be hosting the elite level of women’s football, and hopefully in ten years’ time, the game is going to be in an amazing place.”
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Building Blocks
The focus, however, is well and truly on the now as Wales try to remain in League A of the Nations League.
Playing so many top teams in such a short space of time can be difficult, but what Wilkinson wants to see is a minimum standard being set by her side.
“The word for us is always going to be consistency. On their day this team can beat anyone, and I truly believe that. There’s always some luck involved in football, but you also make your own, and I feel this team is putting themselves in positions to do so.
“We lost 1-0 in Italy, drew with Sweden, and now we’re ready to go again. I’m proud of two strong performances, but equally, I think the real measure of a strong team is having to go back-to-back-to-back against strong opposition. This is the next test for us.”
If the first two games are anything to go by, Wales have shown they can certainly string together solid performances against some of Europe’s best.
However, the biggest indicator of how far this team has come is their reaction to their draw against the Swedes, according to Wilkinson.
“I talk about Wales being Wales, and that’s defensive resilience, organisation, being hard to break down; that’s a big piece of who we need to be. Equally, when we have the ball, we have to take care of it and play.
“One of the prouder moments for me was, we drew with Sweden, and there was no celebration. We never discussed it or anything, but it was more a natural feeling of fatigue, but also frustration that we could have got more out of the game.
“That’s real growth for the team in terms of their own self-belief but also, it’s a new expectation. It’s not one offs or just getting close, it’s how do we make sure that we win games when we have the opportunity to do so.”
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Danish Danger
Perhaps the biggest test to see how far Wales have progressed will come on Friday night, as they host Denmark at Cardiff City Stadium.
The last time the Danes came to the capital, they defeated Gemma Grainger’s then team 5-1; the biggest home defeat Wales have suffered for over a decade.
One player who enjoyed themselves more than most in that game was Denmark captain Pernille Harder. The Bayern Munich star scored a hat-trick back then, and she is currently in red hot form. However, Wilkinson stressed Cymru can’t solely focus on the veteran.
“You can use every training session trying to focus on players like Pernille, but equally, we’ve faced a very good Italian team which had Manuela Giugliano, and this our reality now.
“We will be fortunate to come up against one player who’s at the top of her game, in that top tier, so we have to be aware that every single one of our players needs to know the gameplan, needs to work together, and in that way we know their danger players, but we don’t get lost in that. If we were so focused on them, we could lose ourselves.”
And this is a Denmark team full of players in form, including full-back Sara Holmgaard.
The Everton defender is having the season of her life so far, and her club teammate Ladd is fully aware of the talent she will bring to the capital tomorrow.
“Sara is a really strong player. She’s a great person to have within your squad, and on the pitch you can see her quality. It’ll be an interesting one playing up against her, but we are definitely aware of the quality she possesses.”
