Rhian Wilkinson says Wales want to play “the best of the best” as they prepare for a first major tournament appearance.
Wilkinson’s side will find out their opponents at the 2025 European Championships, to be held in Switzerland, when the draw is made at 17:00 GMT on Monday, 16 December. It is available to watch on BBC Two, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
The head coach says Wales do not care who they are grouped with and will not be despondent if they draw one of the main candidates to win the tournament, such as defending champions England, World Cup winners Spain, or Olympic champions Germany.
“I’m in a perfect situation, which is that I don’t care and I think that is the gift of it, being our first opportunity we get to walk into this experience fearless,” Wilkinson told BBC Sport Wales.
“There are not many people that expect much from us, the people that expect the most are ourselves.
“And so would we like to face the best? Why wouldn’t we?
“There was an off-hand comment about the Nations League A draw, someone said, ‘I’m sure Wales are pleased they didn’t get England’.
“I would’ve loved England. I mean why wouldn’t I want the Spains, the Englands, Germanys? These are the top, top level of the women’s game.”
Wilkinson says she has complete faith her players will show they belong on the biggest stage and can surprise people.
“Yes, it is really challenging to get wins against some of these top teams but you can’t get a better measure [of where you are at], and what an experience for my players,” she said.
“My players need to go against them to recognise how good they are and also for the world to know how good they are.
“Once you see my players up against the best then you can really start valuing them for the level that they are.
“This is a special group and they want to compete against the best of the best.”
Where and when will Euro 2025 be held?
Switzerland will host the 14th version of the Uefa Women’s European Championship, with the opening game involving the hosts in Basel on 2 July – 199 days after Monday’s draw.
The final will take place on 27 July back at St Jakob-Park – Switzerland’s biggest football stadium with a capacity of 37,500.
Seven other stadiums will host games for the 2025 tournament, including grounds that staged games in the men’s 2008 Euros such as the Stadion Wankdorf in Bern, Stade de Genève in Geneva and Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich.
How does the draw work?
Hosts Switzerland will be drawn automatically into the A1 spot, with the remaining teams from pot one drawn out to fill position one in groups B-D.
The remaining 12 teams will then be drawn per pot and allocated random spots 2-4 in each group. The group positions will then determine the order of matches.
Wales, as the lowest ranked side in the competition, will be in pot four.
When do Euro 2025 tickets go on sale and how can I buy them?
Euro 2025 tickets have already been on sale since 1 October 2024, with more than 250,000 tickets made available for all 31 matches of the tournament.
Around 120,000 additional tickets have been held back specifically for supporters of the national teams that have qualified – and they will be made available following the tournament draw on 16 December.
Tickets for all matches throughout the Euro 2025 tournament have been made available via the Women’s Euro 2025 ticket website.
An official ticket resale platform is also due to be launched in spring 2025, allowing ticket holders to safely buy and sell official tickets at face value.
Where can I watch Euro 2025?
Every match of the Women’s Euro 2025 tournament will be shown in the UK on either the BBC or ITV.
Alongside live TV coverage and highlights across the BBC and iPlayer, radio commentary will also be available on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra.
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