The Wales women’s national football team endured an unsettling moment on Tuesday when their team bus was involved in a road accident en route to the Arena St Gallen, where they were scheduled to hold a training session ahead of their crucial UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 clash against France.
In an official statement, the Football Association of Wales (FAW) confirmed the incident, saying: “The Football Association of Wales (FAW) can confirm that the Cymru (Wales) national team bus has been involved in a road traffic accident whilst travelling to Arena St Gallen for their matchday -1 training session ahead of Wednesday`s UEFA Women`s Euro 2025 match against France.”
The Wales team bus was involved in a crash on the way to a training session today at St Gallen Stadium 🚨
The team have confirmed that all players and staff uninjured, as are the people in the other vehicle
Their training session for this evening has been cancelled
📸 Cymru pic.twitter.com/6TUu368rts
— Only Womens Football ⚽️ (@onlywomensfooty) July 8, 2025
“All passengers on the Cymru national team bus and in the other vehicle are unharmed. The FAW`s priority has been to remove the players from the scene and return to the Cymru training base to complete their preparations for tomorrow`s match.”
The accident took place near the team’s hotel in the vicinity of St Gallen. An ambulance promptly arrived at the scene to attend to the driver of the other vehicle involved in the collision. No players or staff from the Welsh team sustained any injuries. The immediate priority for the FAW was to ensure the squad’s safe return to their training base in Weinfelden, so they could regroup and continue their preparations for the pivotal group stage fixture.
However, the accident forced the cancellation of Wales’ scheduled training session at the match venue. The FAW is considering arranging a replacement session later in the day back at their base camp, depending on how the players recover from the ordeal.
Wales head coach Rhian Wilkinson, who along with team captain Angharad James was not on the bus due to separate media commitments, addressed the situation at a press conference. “Everyone is OK,” Wilkinson assured. “Our priority is to get them all together and away from the scene. We`ll be checking in to make sure they all continue to be OK.”
Wilkinson also expressed concern for the well-being of the driver of the other vehicle. “More importantly I think the driver of the other vehicle is OK as well. We will let everyone know once we know for sure,” she added.
This unsettling incident comes at a delicate juncture for Wales. Following a 3-0 defeat to the Netherlands in their opening group game, Wales are at risk of exiting their first major international women’s tournament. A loss to France, combined with a positive result for the Dutch against England, could end their campaign prematurely.
(With AFP inputs)
