Wales beat Albania 1-0 in World Cup play-off first leg — SkimNews
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- Wales beat Albania 1-0 in the first leg of their Women's World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final in Shkoder, giving them a narrow advantage heading into Tuesday's return in Llanelli.
- Ezmiralda Franja's first-half own goal decided the match after Albania — ranked 37 places below Wales in FIFA rankings — created the game's best chances, with Fortesa Berisha and Megi Doci both coming close.
- Rhian Wilkinson acknowledged her side must raise standards, calling the display "resilient" but "not our best" and conceding Wales "never quit" rather than defending "overly well".
- The decisive second leg is at Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli on Tuesday, 13 October at 19:15 BST, broadcast live across BBC platforms.
- Wales had earlier thrashed Albania 4-0 in Wrexham during Group B4 qualifying, alongside a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic in Cardiff and a victory over Montenegro in Llanelli.
- Should Wales advance, they appear set to face Norway, ranked 14th in the world after a 2-0 win in Romania on Friday, with February inter-confederation play-offs potentially still required to reach the Brazil World Cup.
Why it matters: Wales scraped past a team 37 FIFA places below them with virtually no attacking threat, and the coach openly conceded the performance fell short. A likely next-round tie against 14th-ranked Norway would expose those shortcomings immediately, and even beating Norway may not be enough — inter-confederation play-offs in February could still stand between Wales and the Brazil tournament.
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