An Andriy Yarmolenko’s own goal broke the hearts of Ukraine and sent Wales to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, as Ukraine lost 1-0 in the final playoff on Sunday June 6.
During the game, Ukraine got several opportunities to level or even put themselves ahead at the Cardiff City Stadium, yet it was a diverted Gareth Bale free kick that brought about them dropping out of the competition and sending Wales into their first World Cup in 64 years.
Dan James won a free kick for Wales 25 yards out, and Bale moved forward to take it on 34 minutes. He curled in the ball and it was headed in by Ukraine skipper Yarmolenko.
“The result is the greatest in Welsh football history,” Bale said after the match. “We’re going to a World Cup!
“It means everything, what dreams are made of, we’ve been working towards it since I first came in here.
“Words can’t describe how we feel at the moment.”
Oleksandr Zinchenko had the ball in the net right off the bat in the first half from a free kick, yet the ref got back to play, as he considered Zinchenko had taken the kick excessively fast.
Ukraine were not lucky enough to earn a penalty on 40 minutes when Yarmolenko went down under a weighty test from Joe Allen, however VAR (video collaborator ref) waved away the foul.
Wayne Hennessey made a fine save late in the last minute to guarantee that Artem Dovbyk’s header stayed out.
“I’m so proud of the guys, they thoroughly deserved it,” Wales head coach Rob Page said after the game. “The one thing these boys were missing was a World Cup and now we’ve got there.
“These are the best supporters in world football, they helped us from the first minute.
“When you see what these guys do in training, I had full trust in them.”
Wales will join England, Iran and the United States in Group B for the World Cup, which starts on Nov. 21 and runs until Dec. 18.
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