00:00Lucerne offered a fitting backdrop for Wales women's major tournament debut,
00:07a picturesque city in the shadow of mountains that mirrored the challenges ahead.
00:12Wales had been drawn into Euro 2025's toughest group.
00:16They entered ranked 30th of the 16 competing nations without a professional domestic league
00:22and faced three former semi-finalists or champions.
00:26Yet hope, as often as it does in Welsh football, remains stubborn.
00:31A 3-0 defeat to the Netherlands brought a harsh dose of tournament reality.
00:35Goals from Vinian Medema, Victoria Pilova and Esme Bruggett underlined the quality gap,
00:41but also the lessons this young side must absorb for sharper defending and smarter transitions
00:47and making their rare chances.
00:50Yet the story extends beyond the pitch.
00:53Support for the team was extraordinary.
00:55Over 4,000 Welsh fans travelled, transforming Lucerne into a sea of red,
01:00singing and soaking up the occasion with raw, unpolished joy.
01:05It was a stark contrast to October 2021 when just five fans watched Wales play Slovenia in Lendava.
01:12Progress has not come easily, though.
01:14The team has faced decades of under-investment, invisibility and long-standing lack of infrastructure.
01:20In December last year, Rhian Wilkinson said Wales remain culturally behind in women's football.
01:26Not in potential, but in recognition.
01:28Saturday showed that's changing.
01:31The Netherlands' rise, too, was once slow.
01:34They didn't reach a World Cup until 2015.
01:37The recent success has helped to normalise support for their women's side.
01:42Wales is following later, but no less passionately.
01:44It's like this, and we've got two more big games, and we've got to show up again and hopefully learn from how we finish that game, right?
01:52Because we really stepped up in the last 20, 25 minutes.
01:55When the national anthem rang out before and after the game, fans sang not just in defiance, but in celebration.
02:02They stayed long after the final whistle, clapping players who, for all their struggles, had made history.
02:08This wasn't a result to be remembered, but it was a moment that won't be forgotten.
02:12It was a moment that won't be forgotten.
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