Ceri Holland finally settled Wales’ near fatal anxieties with the goal that puts her team on the edge of history. After missing countless chances in a one-sided second leg of their play-off semi-final at home to Slovakia, Holland scored the crucial goal eight minutes from the end of extra-time.

Jess Fishlock insists Wales can make it to the Euro 2025 play-off final if they keep cool heads and clear minds when they take on Slovakia on Tuesday night. The Wales star – her country’s best player and inspiration for over a decade – is the potential saviour Wales will look to as they seek to overcome a 2-1 deficit from the first leg.

Rhian Wilkinson has admitted Wales have “work to do” if they are to keep alive their dream of making Euro 2025 after a shock 2-1 defeat in Slovakia. Wales’ hopes of reaching their first women’s major tournament finals are on a knife-edge following a massively disappointing performance in a 2-1 play-off first-leg defeat in Poprad.

Joe Allen admits he has unfinished business at the World Cup, although he admits that’s a long way down the road. The Swansea City star has made a “whirlwind” return to international football, but insists Wales have unfinished business in the tournament after flopping in Qatar.

Craig Bellamy may have made Welsh footballing history but as an international manager he insisted: “I’m such a rookie.” The confessional tone came as the Wales manager tried to play down the significance of four matches without defeat, a sequence no other Wales manager has managed at the start of their tenure. Bellamy remains unbeaten after a second victory in his Nations League campaign – a 1-0 victory over Montenegro at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Matty Jones has promised an enquiry after Wales’ dreams of an historic night at Rodney Parade and a place in the Under-21 European Championship finals were crushed by the Czech Republic. The Welsh side suffered a 2-1 defeat in Newport, compounded by a disastrous day that saw manager Jones forced to exclude six players due to an administrative error.

Craig Bellamy remained upbeat after Wales surrendered a two-goal interval lead to draw their Nations League tie in Iceland. Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson rewarded some incisive first-half approach play to put Wales in command on a freezing night in Reykjavik.

If Wales need inspiration as they head towards World Cup qualifiers later this season, then the man to supply it could be Rhys Norrington-Davies. The Sheffield United defender has shown bucketfuls of resilience to get to the point where he may now finally return for his country this weekend.

Joe Rodon is confident Wales can overcome the “massive loss” of his Leeds United team-mate Ethan Ampadu for the rest of their Nations League campaign. Leeds captain Ampadu will be out until at least January having sustained a knee ligament injury in their Sky Bet Championship win over Coventry on September 28.

Wales take on Slovakia in a two-legged semi-final at the end of this month as they seek to qualify for Women’s Euro 2025. It would be the team’s first major tournament finals and the fulfilment of a cherished ambition for so many past players, as Alys Haynes reports. Wales may be on the threshold of history, but they have not forgotten their past.

Wales have named Angharad James as captain on a permanent basis ahead of their Women’s Euro 2025 play-off tie with Slovakia. Seattle Reign midfielder James succeeds Chelsea’s Sophie Ingle, who stepped down in April after nine years in the job. The 122-times capped James has previously taken the armband three times in Euro 2025 qualifying as head coach Rhian Wilkinson rotated the role.

Brennan Johnson was given another vote of confidence by Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou after the Wales striker maintained his rich scoring streak. Johnson scored the crucial second goal for Spurs as they beat Hungarians Ferencvaros 2-1, in the Europa League at the Groupama Arena.