Wales Surprises World Cup Champions with Stunning Victory!

Wales' World Cup qualifying campaign ended in disappointing fashion with a 3-0 defeat by Uruguay in the fifth place play-off in Hyderabad, India. The South Americans opened the scoring with a penalty stroke in the second quarter, with Welsh goalkeeper Amy Hughes beaten by Teresa Viana. Martina Rago's shot was deflected home by Magdalena Verga to double their lead in the third period.

Wales captain Beth Bingham had a chance to pull one back but her penalty stroke was saved by Maria Bate. Wales pulled their goalkeeper with four minutes to go, leading to an easy tap in for Lupe Curutchague in the empty net to seal victory. In a frustrating game for Wales, Kevin Johnson's side were left to rue their set-piece attack.

They created plenty of opportunities but their penalty corner routines were lacklustre and provided little threat to the Uruguayan goal. Betsan Thomas was a bright spark for her side, providing constant threat as she ran through the Uruguayan defence. She drew plenty of fouls and earned penalty corners, but Wales were unable to convert their chances.

Uruguyuan goalkeeper Bate earned player of the match for her clean sheet. It was the second time in six days that Uruguay had beaten Wales, having triumphed 3-2 on Monday in their pool fixture. Wales finish 6th in qualifying and are still waiting for an elusive win over Uruguay, who have now beaten them four times and drawn once.