Speaking on the latest Feast of Football podcast, Sophie Ingle revealed why she gave up the Wales captaincy.

Ingle was first handed the armband by former Wales boss Jayne Ludlow at the age of 23, before stepping down in April 2024.

"I felt the team was ready for a new captain, a new voice and maybe a different direction. I had done it for nine to 10 years," she said.

"It was quite a slog. I loved every minute of it, don’t get me wrong, but I felt like I was going into the part of my career where it was towards the end."

Mark Poyser
BBC Radio Wales commentator at Loro Borici Stadium

The weather here in Shkoder is nowhere near as bad as forecast.

It's dry, bright and humid after last night's thunderstorm, so there can be no excuses for Wales.

Without eight senior players through injury and playing on a difficult surface, Rhian Wilkinson's team should still have enough to get a positive result against a team ranked 37 places below them in the Fifa rankings.

The women in red beat Albania home and away in the qualifying group, but the stakes here are far higher than in April.

Owain Llyr
BBC Radio Cymru commentator at Loro Borici Stadium

Image source, BBC Sport

We arrived in Shkoder on Wednesday, and we’ve had a lovely welcome everywhere we’ve been so far.

They love their bikes here, and it was described to me the other day as the "unofficial biking capital of the Balkans".

Cue cycling gag...

Let’s hope Wales can move up a gear tonight.

Any better cycling puns, then let us know.

The match is being dedicated to Pink October for breast cancer awareness.

The starting 11 and boss Rhian Wilkinson will be wearing pink ribbons in support of this, and the mascots will be holding up signs pre-match.

Image source, Getty Images

Managers generally do not reveal their exact targets for an upcoming match.

But boss Rhian Wilkinson said Wales' first aim in today's game is to keep a clean sheet to ensure they head to Llanelli on Tuesday in control of the tie.

When asked what would represent a positive first leg for Wales, Wilkinson said: "I'll stick with a clean sheet and a strong performance."

She added: "I think what I would say is that this is home and away, back-to-back play-off, and we've had some experiences with this.

"We continue to grow through those, and it's about taking care of delivering a performance away and then making sure we come home and deliver another one in the next few days."

Read more: Wales eye shutout in World Cup play-off first leg

By the end of Tuesday next week, exactly half of Wales' qualifying matches for the 2027 World Cup will have been against Albania.

Here's a recap of the qualifying journey so far.

3 March - Czech Republic 2-2 Wales

7 March - Wales 6-1 Montenegro

14 April - Wales 4-0 Albania

18 April - Albania 0-1 Wales

5 June - Montenegro 1-1 Wales

9 June - Wales 3-1 Czech Republic

As Gareth mentioned in his team news post, Wales are without several key players for this camp.

But Rhian Wilkinson believes her younger players are ready to step up.

Image source, FAW

While 2025 was an incredible year for Wales as they reached a major tournament for the first time, it ultimately proved to be a difficult period for Mayzee Davies.

The 20-year-old suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury on international duty in May 2025, which kept her out of action for 13 months.

It meant she missed Euro 2025 in Switzerland, and the Manchester City defender says her injury gives her additional motivation to help fire Wales to a major tournament over the coming months.

"I missed out last time, so I want to feel what it's like to go to a major tournament with Wales," she said.

"It does give me that extra motivation. I love playing for Wales, and I think we're quite a passionate country anyway. So to play in a World Cup for Wales in Brazil would be amazing.

"Not just for me and my family, but coming off the back of the injury would make it extra special."

Read more: Davies' extra motivation after Euros heartbreak

Carrie Jones says there are no excuses for Wales against Albania this evening, despite injuries to key players and a less-than-ideal playing surface.

Nia Jones
Former Wales international on BBC Radio Wales

It could be a bit of a banana skin.

Sport has a funny way of, if you look past somebody and you get too excited for something like a shiny World Cup in Brazil a little bit too soon, then small, proud nations like Albania can come back to bite you.

Wales' away form has not been scintillating, to put it lightly. They have struggled a little bit away from home.

The conditions since we arrived last night are absolutely soaking wet. We're not expecting it to be the nicest of surfaces to play on.

We will expect Wales to want to dominate the ball, but when they did play Albania in the group just a few months ago, they did struggle, and it was a somewhat scruffy goal.

Image source, FAW

There is a huge amount at stake for Wales in this camp.

So it's perhaps understandable why Angharad James says that she thinks about playing at the World Cup "every training session, every day".

"It's always in the back of my mind," the Seattle Reign midfielder added.

Read more: Wales captain James has World Cup on her mind

Image source, Getty Images

Should Wales beat Albania over two legs, they will play either Norway - managed by former boss Gemma Grainger - or Romania.

But even if they did progress and went on to win the final, they would not be guaranteed a spot at next summer's World Cup in Brazil.

There will be eight European play-off winners, with seven progressing straight to Brazil and one – the lowest-ranked nation from the group stage of qualifying – going into inter-confederation play-offs next February.

It is a process that does not sit right with captain Angharad James.

"You play a final, and you could win the final and still not reach the World Cup," she said.

"So as players, do you celebrate that moment, do you not? It's mixed emotions, but hopefully the pathway will change in the near future."

Wales scored four in a convincing win over Albania in Wrexham back in April, with Hannah Cain (2), Elise Hughes and Rhiannon Roberts on the scoresheet.

Rhian Wilkinson is without defender Roberts, who also scored in the 1-0 win in Albania, this window, after she pulled out of the squad with an injury.

Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales at Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkoder

Albania make four changes to the side which began their most recent game, a 5-1 win over Montenegro in June, which sealed their place in the play-offs following a notable away draw in the Czech Republic.

Their star player, Megi Doci, captains the home side tonight in the city where she plays her club football for Vllaznia.

With 21 international strikes to her name, Doci is Albania's record goalscorer.

Experienced Genoa defender Arbenita Curraj is missing, but Como forward Fortesa Berisha starts.

Albania: Spahiu, G Berisha, Bajraktari, Hila, Maliqi, Franja, Metalla, Levenaj, F Berisha, Krasniqi, Doci (capt).

Subs: Hyska, Spaho, Elezaj, Islam, Maxhalaku, Troka, Borci, Zarka, Kuqi, Begallo, Ndoj, Dedgjonaj.

Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales at Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkoder

Rhian Wilkinson makes three changes to the side which began Wales' most recent game, the rousing 3-1 win over the Czech Republic in June.

Two of those are enforced as injured pair Ceri Holland and Rhiannon Roberts drop out, but the third is something of a surprise as Hannah Cain misses out.

Everton forward Cain, scorer of six goals during the group phase of qualifying, is on the bench as in-form Sunderland striker Elise Hughes comes in to lead the line.

Esther Morgan and Rachel Rowe are also recalled, with Mared Griffiths expected to fill in at right-wingback in the absence of Holland, Ffion Morgan and Ella Powell.

With nine regular squad members missing in total, Wales have four uncapped players on the bench: Casi Gregson, Olivia Francis and goalkeepers Soffia Kelly and Lucy Farrell-Shrouder.

Wales: Middleton-Patel, Morgan, Davies, Evans, Griffiths, Ingle, James (capt), Woodham, Rowe, Jones, Hughes.

Subs: Kelly, Farrell-Shrouder, Estcourt, Hill, Williams, McAteer, Joel, Gregson, Francis, Poole, Cain.

Image source, Getty Images

Good afternoon everyone!

It's an enormous week for Wales, who face Albania twice in the space of five days - with a place in the World Cup play-off final at stake.

Rhian Wilkinson's side have faced the Albanians twice already this year, of course, so these two should be more than familiar with each other.

With kick-off fast approaching, let's get started with the team news...