It had to be her. Wales’s debut at a European Championship has meant a group stage full of new experiences, but it felt fitting that a 38-year‑old Jess Fishlock, double Champions League winner and icon of the women’s game, would register the first Wales goal in a major tournament against France on Wednesday night.
Three years ago, it felt cosmically appropriate that it should be Gareth Bale who scored the only Wales goal of the 2022 World Cup, a Welsh legend ticking off another career ambition before retirement. But unlike the postmortems and recrimination prompted by such a disappointing performance from the men’s team in Qatar, this time there is no judgment from the Welsh support out in Switzerland, only pride. Wales face England on Sunday having lost their first two games of Group D, and yet there is no doubt back home that Rhian Wilkinson’s team are history makers.
