CALLS have been made for Wales to take advantage of its place on the world stage following qualification for the World Cup.

Adam Price MS, Leader of Plaid Cymru, today called on Welsh Government to maximise on the opportunity that football and the world stage now offers our nation.

The calls follow the historic match on Sunday that saw the Wales men’s football team qualify for their first World Cup since 1958.

Speaking in the Senedd today (Tuesday, 7 June), Mr Price paid tribute to the Football Association of Wales (FAW) which he said embodied the value of the Wales he wanted to see: “modern, bilingual, anti-racist, creative and inclusive.”

During Questions to the First Minister, Adam Price asked Mark Drakeford “How can we use the World Cup, with its unparalleled global audience, to project that image of that new Wales for trade and international promotion?”

Mr Price noted that despite the busy schedule of the FAW, they had their first meeting at 9am on Sunday evening to start their planning for Wales and called for the “same sense of commitment and urgency” from Welsh Government to “maximise on this opportunity.”

Adam Price MS, Leader of Plaid Cymru, said: “This Sunday evening, some of us will have seen history being written, not only for Welsh football, but also on a broader level for the whole of Wales. “Doesn’t it prove that with that sort of commitment and unity - the unity of the team, the staff, the supporters, all together - we can achieve anything as a nation when we focus our minds, our feet and perhaps, in the case of Wayne Hennessey, our hands too?

“Football has given Wales this incredible opportunity, and just as the FAW had their first meeting at 9pm on Sunday to start their planning for the World Cup, so should the Welsh Government show the same sense of urgency and commitment at the national level to maximise this opportunity.

“There is also huge potential here to inspire, connect people, change lives, transform communities, build the nation. But we have to invest to make the most of that.

“Welsh Government needs to invest in the physical infrastructure, in the social infrastructure of clubs so we can make sure that this World Cup leaves a legacy not just in Qatar but also in every community in Wales, and for generations to come? The opportunity that football presents to us as a nation must not slip through our hands – or feet!”

In response, the First Minister, Mark Drakeford, said: “It was a privilege to be present in the stadium on Sunday evening, and the feeling in the stadium was so strong behind the Welsh team.

“But not just for the Welsh team, the respect that people showed towards the people who were there to support Ukraine as well, that was something that struck me while I was sitting in the stands in the stadium.

“Where I was sitting and around me, what people were talking about was not just football—of course, football was very important—but what the team and the success of the team said about Wales today and the confidence they had.

“And we know that, over the years, as a nation, we have suffered from lack of confidence sometimes in our future, and our capacity to make decisions on things that are important to the people of Wales.

“And we’ve seen time and time again teams just on the boundary of reaching the world stage and then, at the final hurdle, just falling short.

“That’s the important thing that people were talking about in the stadium: the football, of course, but the message that the team and everything that was happening there were giving to people, particularly young people, people who are growing up in Wales today. People were referring to the young people in the team, people who have come through and who are playing for Wales, and that’s the stage that’s important to us: the World Cup stage of course, but a broader stage than that to build that confidence in the people of Wales for the future and in terms of what we can do when we work together.”