Jess Fishlock admits Wales were given a harsh lesson as they were beaten 3-0 by the Netherlands in their Euro 2025 opener.
Goals from Vivianne Miedema, Victoria Pelova and Esmee Brugts earned the Dutch a comfortable victory against Rhian Wilkinson's side on their major tournament debut in Switzerland.
Despite the loss at the Swissporarena, Seattle Reign midfielder Fishlock says Wales will improve in their remaining group stage fixtures with France and England.
"This is the level now, right?" she said. "We've got to get used to this real fast.
"We're going to get better as this tournament goes on. This was tough, but we'll be alright."
Head coach Wilkinson echoed the senitiments of Wales' record goal scorer Fishlock, saying after the match: "We're going to have to learn and grow from this, but we're looking forward to the next game now."
Netherlands were dominant in possession but rarely troubled Olivia Clark in the first-half - with the Wales goalkeeper having little trouble in palming away Jill Roord's driven effort early on.
Having had the only shot on target for the majority of the half, Twente midfielder Roord then unleashed a thumping strike against the inside of Clark's post 10 minutes before the break.
After surviving that scare, Wales enjoyed a strong spell at the end of the half and created their best opening from a set-piece as Fishlock teed up Lily Woodham from a corner, although the Seattle Reign left-back could only blaze over.
Having looked on course to end the half in positive fashion, Wilkinson's side were undone by a moment of quality.
Miedema twisted Rhiannon Roberts inside out before curling into the top corner from 20 yards out to net her 100th goal for her country and put the Netherlands ahead in added time.
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Within three minutes of the restart, Andries Jonker's side doubled their lead as Daniëlle van de Donk picked out Pelova who was left unmarked to fire a low shot beyond Clark.
The Dutch almost made it 3-0 in the 52nd minute as Miedama's inch-perfect pass with the outside of her right boot found Roord whose lifted shot struck the crossbar.
Netherlands were in no mood to sit on their two-goal advantage, and after Jackie Groenen's audacious effort hit the woodwork, the Dutch recycled possession - with Pelova's deep cross being volleyed into the net by Brugts at the back post.
Wales had Clark to thank for palming away another Roord effort as those in red desperately struggled to cope with the 2017 European champions.
Ffion Morgan, Rachel Rowe and Kayleigh Barton were all introduced off the bench - with Carrie Jones later entering the fray as Wales managed to stem the tide until Lineth Beerensteyn thought she had scored her side's fourth seven minutes from time, although she had been flagged offside.
Woodham then raced back the length of the field to clear an effort from Chasity Grant as the Red Wall belted out renditions of Calon Lan and Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau late on - with France awaiting Wales on Wednesday night in St. Gallen.
Captain Angharad James said: "We'll be disappointed with the result but I can't ask any more of the group.
"We left everything on the field, we gave it all we had today and it wasn't quite good enough, we'll learn from it.
"I couldn't be prouder of this group, they mean everything to me and I know we always wear our heart on our sleeves. We'll do it in the next game."
