'Little old Wales' celebrate WC spot with belly slides, bucket hats and sing-song

Gareth Bale's deflected strike saw Wales edge to a 1-0 win over Ukraine in the nerve-shredding play-off at The Cardiff City Stadium, the result ensuring the Dragons will set up a date with England in Qatar.

A special mention should also go to Burnley's Wayne Hennessey and Tottenham's Ben Davies, whose heroics kept Rob Page's men ahead.

There were incredible scenes at the full-time whistle as Bale was mobbed by his teammates.

And back in the Sky Sports studio, former Wales defenders Ashley Williams and Danny Gabbidon were hilariously seen wearing red, green and yellow bucket hats adorned by supporters, who then got another treat.

The victorious squad sprinted towards the supporters in unison, before doing belly slides that Sol Campbell would have been proud of, some ending up in the goal and advertising hoardings.

And once the adrenaline had finally worn off, out came Welsh singer Dafydd Iwan for a rendition of Yma o Hyd (Still Here), which was also sung by players and fans in unison.

Tears of joy were unfortunately met by tears of sadness, though, with Ukraine's players heading to the away end full of emotion with the country in the midst of crisis.

The play-off was originally scheduled for March, but due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, football took a back seat.

Ukraine had overcome Scotland in the semi-final to set up a showdown with Wales, but after defeat the likes of Benfica's Roman Yaremchuk were seen in tears as they applauded the travelling support.

Bale went to console the forward along with Manchester City man Oleksandr Zinchenko, but the joy continued for a number of the home players.

"It's unbelievable! Little old Wales at the World Cup!" said a giddy Aaron Ramsey.

"To get to three major tournaments means so much to me and to top it off with a World Cup, it's amazing."

Page added: "It's unbelievable. I'm so proud of these boys. They thoroughly deserved that. The one thing they needed was a World Cup and they've got it.

"The fans were incredible. They're the best supporters in world football, I'm telling you. They helped us from the first minute and deserve all the credit.

"I was more excited than nervous before kick-off because I trust these lads. I see them in training and have complete faith in these lads."