Rhian Wilkinson wants Wales to ‘spoil the party' by upsetting England
While there is still a mathematical possibility the tournament newcomers could make it through to the quarter-finals, they would need to beat defending champions England by four goals or more in St Gallen on Sunday and hope the Netherlands to lose to France.
England are guaranteed a last-eight place with victory over Wales, who on Wednesday celebrated their first ever major tournament goal when Jess Fishlock scored in the 13th minute of their 4-1 loss to France.
'We're here for the first time and we're here to make an impact and part of that is celebrating our firsts, so we got to celebrate Jess' goal twice – thanks VAR. All these moments are important to celebrate,' said Wilkinson.
'And for those countries that are fortunate enough to have the size and player pool, who expect regularly to qualify for these events, they've forgotten what an achievement it is to be at the pinnacle of the game at these major events.
'These women have fought for so long, many of them their whole careers, to have this opportunity and I will not allow us to feel like we're just here to just participate. So we will continue to celebrate.
'England, of course there's a storyline. Why wouldn't we go towards a rivalry? This will only benefit the women's game. We're going to give them as much as possible, push them to the very end.
'And it is the very end. We're in an incredibly close group. England will be forced to play a strong line-up because it is such a close group and there's also a goal differential. So for my women, we get to show up and spoil the party and that's a wonderful job.'
The Lionesses sparked a women's football frenzy by lifting their first major trophy at their home Euros in 2022.
Asked if England might now be one of those 'fortunate' countries at risk of forgetting the journey and achievement of simply making it, former Canada international Wilkinson replied: 'Maybe. They knocked me out of the home World Cup in 2015 and that was a moment in England, in the women's game, and since then they've really pushed on and set new standards.'
She added: 'The women's game is now coming on leaps and bounds and I think it's just a call to remember that this is still a new game and it's developing in front of our eyes.'
Wales are the lowest-ranked side at the Euros and captain Angharad James revealed the squad said before the tournament 'that we've already won, regardless of what happens. Wales has already won and we've taken huge strides forward.'
But pushed on whether or not she wanted to knock England out, James conceded: 'Of course you do. It's in our blood. It's in our DNA.'
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