Mayzee Davies turns Euros heartbreak into World Cup fuel for Wales

Mayzee Davies watched Wales make history without her. Now the 20-year-old defender wants to help write the next part with them.

Davies plays for Wales and Manchester City. She damaged her anterior cruciate ligament, the key ligament that steadies the knee, on international duty in May 2025. The injury kept her out for 13 months.

Thirteen months out. She watched from home as Wales reached Euro 2025, the country's first ever major tournament in the women's game. Davies told BBC Sport that missing that summer in Switzerland has left her with extra fuel for what comes next, a place at the 2027 World Cup.

She made her return to the Wales shirt in June. She featured in group qualifiers against Montenegro and the Czech Republic as head coach Rhian Wilkinson eased her back into international football. She has since been named in the Cymru squad for the Albania play-off, according to the Football Association of Wales.

Wales face Albania in a World Cup play-off semi-final. It is a two-legged tie, with the winner on aggregate going through to a final. The first leg is in Shkoder on Friday, 9 October. The return is in Llanelli four days later.

Wilkinson's squad is stretched. Wales lost key players Ceri Holland and Hayley Ladd to injury withdrawals ahead of the Albania games, part of a wider list of seven absentees. Albania sit 37 places below Wales in the FIFA world rankings, but Wales cannot call on a full-strength side.

The winners will meet either Romania or Norway in the play-off final, with a World Cup place still two rounds away.

For fans, this means a familiar mix. A young player desperate to make up for lost time, and a team trying to keep another dream alive while patching up the gaps.