Wales reach first World Cup in 64 years with emotional victory over Ukraine

Wales will be at the Qatar World Cup after beating Ukraine to ensure their participation in football's biggest competition for the first time since 1958.

The Cardiff City stadium played host to Wales bid to end their 64 year drought from a World Cup - the longest run outside of the competition of any major European nation. All of the Dragons' usual star names were available to Rob Page for undoubtedly the biggest game of his managerial career to date.

Gareth Bale was lifting the Champions League with Real Madrid last weekend, but attentions were swiftly turned to international matters as the 32-year-old looked to guide his country into the promised land.

It was the former Madrid man who helped hand the hosts the lead with a free-kick from some way out. Bale did not get the final touch, his effort ending up in the back of the net off the head of former West Ham striker Andriy Yarmolenko to spark pandemonium from the home faithful.

Much of the backdrop and pre-match discourse was focused on the war in Ukraine following Russia's recent invasion of the nation, with plenty of Wales stars explaining how they would not be taking it easy on their opponents.

However, it was actually Ukraine who enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges with the visitors forcing Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey into a number of stops inside the first 30 minutes. Manchester City left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko was utilised in midfield and did not look out of place at all.

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The Etihad fan favourite thought he had put his country in front inside the opening five minutes, but his quickly taken free-kick was ruled out by referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz.

With that being said, if Wales were fortunate to find themselves in front they certainly improved after the game's opening goal. The contest suddenly became much more open - both sides wasting little time in launching their attacks.

Ukraine can consider themselves unlucky to have not been awarded a spot-kick as the first-half drew to a close. Yarmolenko caught Joe Allen by surprise and was kicked in the heel by the Stoke midfielder, but a lengthy VAR review spared Wales' blushes.

Aaron Ramsey had the chance to put some real daylight between the two teams shortly after the interval after a delightful Wales move, but the ex-Arsenal man failed to hit the target from close range and in turn let Ukraine off the hook.

Roman Yaremchuk was guilty of something similar for Ukraine just minutes later, the 26-year-old Benfica striker firing wide from no more than six yards out after Yarmolenko's effort was parried back into danger by shot-stopper Hennessey.

Nerves were only heightened further when both Brennan Johnson and Bale spurned good chances, the former of the two striking the frame of the goal as another opportunity to end the tie as a contest was passed up by Wales.

Despite relentless pressure from Ukraine, inspired form from Hennessey and some resilient defending ensured Wales held on for a historic victory and seal their place among the world's best later this year.

The full-time whistle triggered emotional scenes from both sets of players and supporters, with tears from both Wales and Ukraine stars. Ramsey struggled to contain his emotion while Bale sprinted from the dugout to join in the on-pitch celebrations.

Fighting back tears while conducting his post-match media duties, Ramsey told Sky Sports how it felt to be going to Qatar: "Unbelievable, unbelievable. To get to three major tournaments now and top it off with the World Cup is something else."

His sentiments were echoed by teammate Connor Roberts, who added: "Unbelievable, personally I never even thought I'd play for Wales so to play for Wales at a World Cup is unthinkable to be honest. Hopefully I can have a decent start to the season and get out to Qatar."

Bale was very much the man everyone wanted to hear from come full-time, especially with so many lingering questions over his club future after recently announcing his departure from Real Madrid. Yeah the result is the greatest result in the history of Welsh football," the Wales legend explained. "We're all ecstatic, you can see it with the fans, we're going to the World Cup.

"It's what dreams are made of, it's what we've been working for since we first got here, I'm speechless because I'm so happy. We did it for all our amazing fans. Words don't describe how I feel at the moment."

Pressed for comment over whether his retirement has been pushed back given Wales' qualification, Bale quipped: "For a little bit," with a huge smile on his face.