The genetic diversity of wild relatives is significantly higher than that of their domesticated descendants. There are more than 20 species of wild relatives in the genus Glycine, primarily found in secondary and tertiary gene pools. Glycine soja is the sole wild relative in the primary gene pool that possesses numerous advantageous traits for tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, making it highly significant in soybean improvement. Obtaining high-quality diverse soja accession seed has proven to be the main challenge in our soybean hybridisation programme, despite the wide availability of soja germplasm. From our experience, the logistics associated with reliably procuring these seeds have been quite demanding. Wild soybeans exhibit a wide range of genetic diversity, enabling them to withstand different types of pests, diseases and environmental challenges. The recent progress in genome and transcriptome analysis has made it possible to identify alleles associated with desirable traits that were lost during the domestication of soybean, by studying wild soybean. This text highlights the importance of pre-breeding in plant breeding. It emphasises the various activities involved in identifying desirable traits and genes from unadapted sources, which cannot be directly used in breeding populations. The goal is to transfer these valuable traits to an intermediate set of materials that breeders can then use to develop new varieties for farmers. This comprehensive study on soybean wild relatives and their genomic features will greatly enhance soybean breeding efforts and contribute to the development of climate-resilient soybean varieties. These advancements are crucial for ensuring sustainable soybean production in the face of climate change.