How can Wales go through to last 16 in World Cup 2022:
The Vale and Bridgend county borough will come to a standstill this evening as the Wales national football team takes on England in a mouth-watering head-to-head match at Qatar World Cup.
To stand a chance of progressing to the last 16 in the tournament, Robert Page’s Wales team must beat their long-time rivals and hope that the USA-Iran game finishes in a draw. Should the USA v Iran match produce a winner, Wales’ chances are so slim that they can be dismissed. The requirement – a win by four clear goals over England is – let’s face it – in miracle territory.
Despite a poor performance last Friday (25th November) that saw Wales lose 2-0 against Iran, Gareth Bale remains cheerful and optimistic saying: “There have been a few shocks in the World Cup and there’s no reason why we can’t do the same.”
Ian Rush, a Welsh goal-scoring legend who never played in a World Cup, also remains buoyant saying: “I think Wales are better being the underdog. If Wales can make it to the last 16, I think they’ve done very well. And when you get to the last 16, anything is possible.”
For Wales, it probably depends on whether Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen can overcome limited game time in the run up to the World Cup and contribute for a full 90 minutes.
Is there a plus side? Well, it can be argued that Wales gave USA a harder game than England did. At least Wales came back strongly in the second half to equalise while England laboured to make progress against a fit, well-organised USA side. On the down side, that effort may have taken a lot physically out of Wales – and it showed against Iran.
So far, Wales have played two full games and haven’t had a single free kick within 30 yards of the goal. Just one, and a moment of Bale magic, could do the trick
Kick off times for both the Wales v England and USA v Iran games are both being held simultaneously this evening with kick off at 7pm.
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