Wales seal place at 2022 World Cup as playoff final win ends Ukraine hopes

After a glossary of near-misses, Wales qualified for a first World Cup in 64 years after edging out Ukraine in a nervy playoff final. The goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey made a series of improbable of saves, some more mind-bending than others, Ben Davies was heroic in defence and Neco Williams threw his body on the line in five minutes of second-half stoppage time to preserve a narrow and perhaps slightly fortunate victory. Then there is the small matter of Gareth Bale, whose free-kick was diverted in by the Ukraine captain Andriy Yarmolenko.

And just like that, Wales became one of the most unpopular teams on Earth, ending Ukraine’s hopes of reaching the finals in November. Wales, meanwhile, can start preparing to play England, Iran and USA in Qatar.

For Wales, the only goal will live long in the memory. It stemmed from Ruslan Malinovskyi blocking off Daniel James 20-odd yards from goal, to leave Bale standing over a free-kick that was from an almost identical distance to when he opened the scoring against Austria in the semi-final.

Bale flighted a devilish low cross towards the back post and Yarmolenko, sensing danger, flung himself towards it and inadvertently headed the ball past his own goalkeeper, Georgiy Bushchan. Bale wheeled away, pointing to the crest on his chest. Ben Davies, one of Wales’s standout performers on the night, tapped his temples, urging calm among his teammates. Hennessey was arguably the strongest contender, however, his sprawling left-hand save to prevent the substitute Artem Dovbyk from heading in Vitaly Mykolenko’s cross late on the pick a fine bunch.

Davies embodied Wales’s spirit. The defender, playing on the left of a back three, made a block with 15 minutes to play when Yarmolenko side-footed