Euro 2025: Wales aim to conquer their Everest after squad named on mountain summit | OneFootball

Rhian Wilkinson hopes Wales can conquer their “Everest” at Euro 2025 after naming her squad at the top of the country’s highest mountain. The head coach’s group includes Sophie Ingle, who has won a race against time and recovered from an anterior cruciate ligament rupture sustained last September.

Wilkinson hiked up Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon, on Thursday morning before naming her Switzerland-bound party from the summit. The trek took less than 90 minutes – “I was listening to political podcasts that were getting me angry so I stormed up,” she said – and her sights continue to be set appropriately high.

“We’ve used the mountain as a theme and an image throughout this campaign,” said Wilkinson, whose ties to Yr Wyddfa run deep because her parents honeymooned in the area and her family held a ceremony on the mountain in memory of her late father. “It [qualifying] was always going to be an uphill battle with little setbacks. As we’ve moved towards the Euros we’ve talked about the summit, the Everest part of it; that something is impossible until it isn’t.

“Outside Wales people can think whatever they want. Our goal is to show up and deliver to the best of our ability. I am sure people will be looking up Wales on a map very soon.”

Ingle’s inclusion represents a significant boost to Welsh hopes of exceeding expectations in their first major tournament. The much-decorated 33-year-old midfielder, who will leave Chelsea this summer, was sidelined by her knee injury for the entire domestic season.

“We needed to make sure that Sophie was in a good place,” Wilkinson said. “She’s still on her path to full fitness but in a position now where she can contribute, which is important for us. “I don’t want to get into [what role Ingle will be able to play] specifically because Sophie’s pushing, she’s looking really good in training.”

Wales – 30th in Fifa’s rankings – have been placed in a tough group alongside the Netherlands, France and England but their capacity to cause an upset is boosted by the presence of their record scorer and cap-holder, Jess Fishlock, alongside Ingle in midfield.

Although now 38, Fishlock is still going strong in the United States at Seattle Reign and, as the undoubted star of the team, cannot be underestimated by even the best opponents. She and Ingle will be joined by her Reign teammate Angharad James, the Wales captain, in a formidable-looking midfield. The trio hold 432 international caps. Wilkinson described Fishlock as “the face of Wales”.

It also helps that Wilkinson, who is half-Welsh, is no tactical slouch. The 43-year-old former 183-cap Canada defender managed Portland Thorns to the NWSL title in the US in 2022 and served as a highly regarded assistant coach with Canada’s and England’s women.

Since her arrival in February 2024 Wales have only once lost by more than a goal but scoring freely can remain a problem. The hope is that this can be remedied by the return to full fitness of the prolific Crystal Palace striker Elise Hughes after her second ACL rupture.

Wilkinson, joined on her way up Yr Wyddfa by the Leicester goalkeeper Olivia Clark and the unattached former Real Betis defender Rhiannon Roberts, admitted squad selection had felt “a bit heavy”. She said: “You know when you’ve those big decisions looming you’re going to hurt someone. It’s the worst part of a dream job.”

On Sunday the players will fly to Portugal for a week’s training on the Algarve before arriving at their base in Lipperswil in north-east Switzerland, between Zurich and St Gallen and close to Lake Constance.

With more than 2,000 Wales fans attending the team’s matches in Lucerne (against the Netherlands) and St Gallen (against France and England), the tournament’s lowest-ranked side are poised to be among the best-supported teams in Switzerland.

PA Media contributed to this report

Header image: [Photograph: Nick Potts/PA]