Wales’s hopes of reaching the Women’s World Cup and a first major tournament will boil down to a playoff. A goalless draw at home to Slovenia on a record-breaking evening in Cardiff was sufficient to secure their place as runners-up in Group I.
The Wales manager, Gemma Grainger, was here in June when the men’s team booked a place at the World Cup via a playoff final victory over Ukraine and now her side will have a chance to replicate their journey.
Regardless of how things unfolded it was going to be a groundbreaking evening, with Wales playing before a record crowd of more than 12,000, more than double the previous record set against Estonia last October.
For comparison, at the start of this campaign they attracted 1,745 in Llanelli. Even the mascots’ enthusiasm would not be dampened despite torrential rain and before kick-off.