WALES secured their qualification for the 2022 Qatar World Cup after navigating past Austria and Ukraine in the playoffs.
A 34th-minute deflected free-kick from Gareth Bale was enough to secure a 1-0 win over Ukraine in the final playoff game.
In a post-match interview with Sky Sports the Welsh captain hailed it as “the greatest result in the history of Welsh football. We’re going to a World Cup!”
It came off the back of impressive performances at the two most recent European Championships.
They reached the semi-finals and round of 16 in 2016 and 2020 respectively and they will no doubt want to transform those performances onto the world stage in November.
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When did Wales last qualify for the World Cup?
Wales’ last Fifa World Cup appearance came back in 1958.
The 1950s were a golden age for Welsh football with the likes of John Charles, Cliff Jones and Ivor Allchurch featuring.
The tournament was hosted by Sweden and became the first to be played in a Nordic country.
16 teams entered the competition of which 12 were European sides.
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Who knocked Wales out of the 1958 World Cup?
Wales made an unbeaten start to the tournament drawing all three of their group games against Hungary, Mexico and Sweden.
A 2-1 win over Hungary in a group stage playoff game sealed their progression to the quarter-finals where they would face the mighty Brazil.
But the Dragons’ chances were dealt a huge blow when John Charles was ruled out of the tie.
A tense and tight affair saw them suffer a 1-0 defeat with a goal from the then 17-year-old sensation Pele enough for Brazil, who would go on to win the tournament.
Have Wales come close to qualifying for World Cups since 1958?
Wales have been on the verge of World Cup qualification a number of times, but Mexico 1986 and USA 1994 were the most painful qualifying campaigns for Welsh fans.
The 1986 qualification pitted them against Scotland, knowing a home win in this fierce home nation battle would have sealed qualification.
Mark Hughes opened the scoring, but a Davie Cooper penalty secured a draw and qualification for the Tartan army.
Eight years on, the Dragons suffered another agonising qualification failure in their final group game against Romania.
The late Gary Speed won a penalty that was taken by Paul Bodin.
The then Swindon Town left-back smashed his effort against the crossbar and later in the match Florin Raducioiu grab the winner for Romania to break Welsh hearts.
Had Wales scored the penalty and held out for victory they would have qualified.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
