Neco Williams says the pain of Wales' World Cup play-off exit is still there. Wales were four minutes from victory before Edin Dzeko cancelled out Dan James' opener, then Brennan Johnson missed his penalty before Neco Williams' attempt was saved. The Wales defender's BBC interview is less about replaying that night than about what comes next, starting with Ghana on Tuesday in Cardiff.
Why the World Cup miss still hurts
Williams did not soften the emotional side of it. "We know what the fans are feeling because we are feeling the exactly the same all the emotions of not going to America," he said. He added: "I'm still gutted and I'm sure most of the lads are. It's not every day you get the opportunity to go the World Cup and we fell short on the night."
The disappointment is easy to understand from the sequence itself. Wales lost their play-off semi-final with Bosnia-Herzegovina and were denied a second successive World Cup appearance. Williams also said he believes Wales would have "given it a real go" and had "a good chance of going far" if they had reached the tournament.
The broader picture is not flattering either. Wales' last three World Cup matches were a 0-3 loss to England, a 0-2 loss to Iran and a 1-1 draw with the USA. This is not a group that can pretend the pain was just one bad night.
What Wales are trying to build toward
Williams' point is that dwelling on it will not help. "The best players in the world miss penalties and you just have to dust yourself down, get over it and focus on the next tournament," he said. That next target is clear enough: the brief frames Euro 2028 as Wales' next realistic major-finals goal, with Cardiff among the host cities if they qualify.
The immediate football is more ordinary, but it matters. Wales face Ghana in a friendly at Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday 2 June, then move on to Romania and the Nations League. That is the route back into rhythm after a result that clearly still stings.
Ghana are not being treated as soft opposition either. Their last five World Cup results include two wins, two losses and one draw, which makes this a useful test rather than a decorative friendly.
Williams' interviews usually carry a practical edge, and this one did too. He is still carrying the miss, but he is not hiding behind it. The next step for Wales is to use these games to settle again, and then make Euro 2028 more than a distant talking point.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
