Page sees winnable games for Wales in World Cup group

CARDIFF : It has been 62 years since Wales last appeared in the World Cup finals but their interim manager Rob Page believes his side can make a real impact in Qatar and progress from their group.

Wales beat Ukraine 1-0 in their qualification playoff final on Sunday and will now play in Group B along with the United States, Iran and neighbours England in the tournament which starts on November 21.

“We have played against the USA. We know they are a really strong outfit. We played against their European-based players, in my first game," Page told BBC Wales, referring to a 0-0 friendly in November, 2020.

“They [and Iran] are winnable games and when you play against a home nations team, anything can happen," he added.

“We will go out there with the confidence we have had going into any game. We will go toe to toe with anybody –- bring it on. That’s the attitude we have got in that changing room.”

Although the last time Wales featured in the World Cup finals was in 1958, the current squad have gained big-tournament experience through the last two European Championship campaigns.

Under manager Chris Coleman in 2016, Wales upset Belgium in the quarter-finals before being halted by Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal.

Last year, in the delayed Euro 2020 tournament, Wales qualified from a tricky group, ahead of Turkey and Switzerland, before they were beaten 4-0 by Denmark in the round of 16.

Those campaigns have energised the fan base in a country where rugby union has long been viewed as the national sport and Page believes it is not only the impressive communal singing of supporters that now matches the oval-ball game.

"Growing up in the valleys it was all about rugby. We had Cardiff City and Swansea City in the old fourth division and rugby