Hughes keeps it simple: Albania first

Hughes has made clear that the next fixture, not the destination, is where her head is at. Wales are chasing World Cup qualification, a target the nation has never reached in the women's game, and Hughes has described it as something she has wanted "since I was little" while insisting the Albania match is the only thing that matters right now.

It's the sort of line players give when a tournament dream is genuinely alive rather than theoretical. Wales don't talk about the World Cup as a far-off fantasy anymore. They talk about it as a campaign with fixtures in it, and Albania is the next one on the list.

Beating Albania first

Hughes's comments, reported by BBC Sport, lean into a split that a lot of international players describe but few articulate this cleanly: the ambition is huge, the job in front of you is small. Beat Albania. Worry about the rest later.

That discipline matters for a side still chasing its first qualification. Every group game is a chance to bank points toward something Wales have never managed before, and Albania is simply the fixture that happens to sit next on the calendar.

Wales' long wait for a first World Cup

Wales women have never been to a World Cup. That absence is the backdrop to every one of these qualifiers, and it's why Hughes framing this as a lifelong ambition lands differently than it would for a federation used to tournament football. The current generation, Hughes included, is the one with a genuine shot at changing that.

None of that changes what she said about Albania, though. Keep the eyes on the next ninety minutes, let the bigger picture take care of itself. It's the only sensible way to carry a dream that's been building since childhood without it crushing the week in front of you.