Wales’s last and only World Cup qualification came 64 years ago where they performed well, losing to eventual champions Brazil in the quarter final stage. This was a 1-0 defeat where a 17 year old Pele scored the goal to win the game and Wales were without their best player John Charles. Since then we have come close but never again qualified for a world cup despite producing some great players since the last qualification such as Ian Rush and Ryan Giggs.
Gary Speed took over Wales in 2010 and we had the lowest FIFA ranking in august 2011 sitting at 117th in the world rankings. The rise from this was monumental and in 2016 Wales qualified for the European Championships for the first time and managed to reach the semi-finals thanks to a squad of fantastic talent and fans supporting the team immensely in France. Wales had Gareth Bale who was at the peak of his powers and one of the best players in the world. However despite this success we failed to qualify for the next World Cup in Russia finishing 3rd in a qualifying group after losing the last game against the Republic of Ireland 1-0 with Bale being injured for the game and Wales not performing at their best.
Since then Wales have replaced Chris Coleman who led us to the Euros in 2016 with Ryan Giggs taking charge. However Rob Page is now in charge and led us to Euro 2020 where a new look Wales competed and managed to get out of a tough group with Switzerland, Italy and Turkey. This was surprising with many predicting an early exit for Wales in this group. Many had predicted Turkey to come out as they performed well in qualifying but Wales played well against Turkey in a 2-0 win which could have been more if Wales had been more clinical with Ramsey missing opportunities in the first half and Bale missing a penalty in the second half.
This Wales team, unlike the 2016 team, has a lot more youthful players with the likes of Ethan Ampadu, Daniel James, Harry Wilson and Joe Rodon having key roles despite all being under 25 years old. They have all been given time to develop and game time for Wales even when not getting regular game time at their respective clubs. They have all shown improvement and hopefully Wales can be rewarded for their faith shown in the youngsters and qualify for the world cup which in itself is a huge success for Wales. Wales qualifying for World Cup 2022 was always going to be tough with their group having FIFA’s number 1 ranked team Belgium, who are heavy favourites to come out on top of the group and they did so without losing any games. Wales managed to come second edging out a good Czech Republic side and now Wales have a favourable home tie in Cardiff against their semi final opponents Austria in the world cup playoffs. Austria had a difficult qualifying campaign finishing 4th in their group behind Denmark, Scotland and Israel. Despite their underperformance in the group Austria are tough opponents for Wales and they proved this in the Euros getting out of their group ahead of Ukraine and losing in extra time to eventual champions Italy 2-1. Austria have some top talent in their squad with most of their team playing in the top flights of European football. Their star players are Marcel Sabitzer, David Alaba and Marko Arnautovic and they all have the experience needed to lead this Austria side in Cardiff with 245 Caps between them. Arnautovic is Austria’s best attacking player and led the scoring during qualification with 5 goals and 2 assists in 5 games. David Alaba of Real Madrid has been ever-present for Austria playing on the side of the defence for Austria during qualifying, providing 2 assists and has been playing in the Real Madrid side who are currently top of the league and Wales will need to be wary of his passing ability. Wales will go into this game hopeful of getting to the final with the home advantage and both teams are arguably quite evenly matched with only 10 places between them in the FIFA world rankings with Wales being 20th and Austria 30th.
Wales last played against Belgium in a 1-1 draw in Cardiff so how is the squad looking ahead of next month’s game?
Wales will be without their target man striker Keiffer Moore. A huge miss as he plays a vital role for the Welsh and there is nobody like him playing for Wales with his superb aerial ability and physicality. He is also a threat in front of goal scoring twice in 5 games. However this may provide an opportunity for Wales to play Brennan Johnson who has shown glimpses of his talent in his 7 caps for Wales despite not scoring yet for his Country. This season in the Championship he has been in great form scoring 9 goals and getting 6 assists in 31 games for Nottingham Forest.
He is known for his pace and technical ability and can add to Wales’ attack, particularly the counter attack.
He is a young player at 20 but has stepped up his game at a vital time to put him in contention to start for Wales and play a key role. Gareth Bale Wales talisman has not featured much this season for Real Madrid only playing 4 league games scoring once however he played 90 mins recently and Wales will be hopeful he can play more and stay injury free for these crucial games being the top scorer in Wales history scoring 36 times. Aaron Ramsey secured a loan move to Scottish side Rangers on deadline day to get more game time which he was not getting at Juventus. This shows his desire to be in top shape for the qualifiers and he will be playing regularly if he stays fit. His link up play and creativity will be huge for Wales and he scores goals from midfield scoring 3 times in just 4 games during qualifying and is a huge loss to the Wales midfield when he is not there.
Elsewhere in the attack Harry Wilson has been in fine form for Fulham, showing his ability to create and score goals with 8 goals and 10 assists for the free scoring London club this season. Daniel James has been in good form for Leeds recently scoring twice against Aston Villa and his pace and dribbling will be important for Wales. Ethan Ampadu has been playing regularly for Venezia in Italy in the midfield and defence. He is a versatile player with calmness on the ball and defensive capabilities and his ability to keep the ball and build up along with Joe Rodon will be key for Wales against Austria, who are comfortable pressing opponents. In the defence Wales will have Connor Roberts back who provides great energy and commitment on the right side of the defence and Neco Williams has great ability on the ball on the left side of the defence and will have more game time now on loan at Fulham.
In the Centre of defence players have had less game time with Joe Rodon not playing for Tottenham regularly with tough competition for places and Chris Mepham is currently injured but should be fit for the qualifiers. Ben Davies has been playing recently for Tottenham in the left sided CB role which is where he is likely to play for Wales and his experience will be important leading the younger back line for Wales.
In goal it is likely to be Danny Ward despite being number 2 at Leicester with Kasper Schmeichel being their number 1 keeper. His shot-stopping ability has been evident for Wales despite not playing much football over the last couple years.
The other semi-final tie is Scotland and Ukraine and if Wales can progress they will play the winner of that tie for a place in the 2022 World cup. A very important note is that if Wales did win no matter who wins in the other tie the final would be in Cardiff giving Wales the home advantage again and this would be crucial and both Scotland would be tough games for Wales. Scotland played very well in qualifying only losing one game to the group winners Denmark who Wales lost to in Euro 2020 at the round of 16 stage. Scotland also beat Denmark in their last game of the qualifying round and will fancy their chances against Ukraine with them playing at their home ground, Hampden Park.
Scotland have a strong squad with Keiran Tierney and Andrew Robertson being the stand out names and leaders of the squad. Despite playing the same position in their respective clubs they are too good to not play in this Scottish side with Tierney being utilised in the CB role and Robertson out wide to utilise his crossing ability and relentless work rate up and down the pitch. In the forward area they have uncovered a young talent in Che Adams who has scored goals for Scotland and Southampton in the premier league.
They also have Aston VIlla man John Mcginn who provides work rate and all round qualities in midfield and Ukraine will be aware of the relentlessness of this Scottish side. If Scotland and Wales face each other in the final it will be a tough game for Wales and likely to be a close battle with both teams willing to work tirelessly for the win when it matters most and Wales will hope the crowd will provide the boost needed to get the win. Ukraine were undefeated in qualifying in a group with current World champions France which shows their strength as France are one of the favourites again to win the World Cup in Qatar.
Man City’s Olexander Zinchenko provides the creativity in midfield and Ruslan Malinovsky provides the creativity further up the field and scores goals for Atalanta in the Serie A with his powerful left foot a real asset for Ukraine. Ukraine has many players from Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv in the core of their team and are consistently the best sides in the Ukrainian top flight and Shakhter regularly qualify for the Champions league every season which shows the strength of the top sides in Ukraine. They will be tough to beat and if they can get to the final and Wales play Ukraine they will play a side that will be resilient and has the quality to hurt Wales.
The first fixtures are on the 24th March with the final on the 29th March and the losers of each semi final playing each other in a friendly and the draw for the World Cup will be on the 3rd April. The World Cup will kick off on the 21st November 2022 and the final takes place on the 18th December.
