Wilkinson reveals Wales plane was hit by lightning

Rhian Wilkinson says Wales are happy to be at home in Tuesday's Women's World Cup qualifier against Czech Republic after revealing their team plane was struck by lightning en route to their previous game in Montenegro.

Wales had to deal with travel chaos before last Friday's 1-1 draw in Podgorica, with their flight diverted to Italy as a result of prolonged electrical storms in the Balkans.

Top spot in Group B1 will be decided at the Cardiff City Stadium, with Wilkinson saying her players are ready to go having overcome the trauma of their journey to Montenegro.

"I think absolutely this is going to be a story forever and when they write their autobiographies, I'm pretty sure it will be a chapter," the Wales head coach said.

"We were remembering before the Euros [in 2025] that we had a game in Portugal and I [deliberately] made one of the buses late to try to prepare them for things that might come up, but I hadn't considered being struck by lightning."

Wales' charter plane spent around an hour flying over Montenegro hoping for a chance to land before the decision was taken to divert to Brindisi.

Numerous flashes of lightning could be seen from the aircraft, with the pilot later confirming to Football Association of Wales (FAW) staff that the plane itself had been hit.

"Have I ever been on a plane struck by lightning? I have not," Wilkinson said.

"It is one of those things that we were never in danger, but it feels like it.

"We know that if you've ever been on a plane that's had heavy turbulence or you hit heavy winds, it's just a frightening moment. It's out of your control.

"We're very glad that they made the right decision to divert and then that we were safely in Italy for a day."

Wales' players and staff remained on board the plane for more than three hours in the hope that the weather would ease, before the decision was taken in the early hours of last Thursday to spend the night in Italy.

While the FAW eventually managed to secure accommodation for all 26 members of their playing staff, Wilkinson and some members of her backroom team spent the night in an airport waiting area.

They finally made it to Montenegro on Thursday evening, only 23 hours before their qualifier kicked off.

"It wasn't just a travel delay, that was a real horror trip and a frightening one as well," Wilkinson added.

"There was the physical lack of sleep - a full night of lost sleep - and also a lot of stress.

"It is one of those things that a lot of people are frightened of and then we have a scary moment there, so thank goodness everyone is healthy."

Having struggled to reach Montenegro, Wales could only draw with opponents they were expected to beat with something to spare on a miserable evening at the Gradski Stadion.

A victory would have put Wilkinson's team in pole position to top their group, but instead they must now beat the Czechs if they are to finish first and therefore secure a more favourable route in the play-offs later this year.

"I think that there's the luck of a draw whether you finish first or second," Wilkinson said.

"Yes, you have a slightly better opportunity finishing first, but I do think momentum-wise and confidence-wise - and for the players to really recognise the growth they've made in the last few years - I think it's important that we win this game.

"This is a huge game and I think it's a challenge against a team that is in almost every single category equal to us."

Wales and the Czech Republic are level on points having both won three and drawn two of their five group games to date.

A Czech win in Cardiff would see them finish top, while a draw would also be good enough for Jitka Klimkova's team because of their better goal difference.

While both the Czech Republic and Wales are already certain to be in the play-offs, claiming first place would mean avoiding a League A side at the semi-final stage in October.

Wilkinson says she has a fully fit squad available for the game - aside from Hayley Ladd, who was not called up in this window due to injury - with Carrie Jones and Lily Woodham both in line to reach 50 Wales caps on Tuesday.