STAR PREVIEW Sun: Wales v Ukraine

Both Wales and Ukraine are vying for a spot at this year’s World Cup, but only one can make it through and who that will be will be decided when the two sides meet in the play-off final at the Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday.

Wales booked their spot in this play-off final when they saw off Austria in March with a 2-1 win thanks to a brace from – you guessed it – Gareth Bale, which included a wonderful free-kick to open the scoring.

Rob Page’s side performed impressively in their qualification group but, in a group with Belgium, their likeliest route through to the World Cup finals was always going to be the play-offs.

Bale will be, as ever, the focal point of their attack and the man who big things are expected from even though his game-time for Real Madrid has been extremely limited this season with less than 300 minutes of football under his belt in all competitions for his club.

However, Wales have been looking as cohesive and united under Page in recent months as they have since the Coleman era and, with a raucous home crowd behind them on Sunday, will certainly fancy their chances of booking that spot on the plane to Qatar.

Wales v Ukraine
FIFA World Cup 2022 Play-Off Final
17:00 ITV / S4C / STV / Sky Sports Main Event / Sky Sports Football / Sky Sports Ultra HD / ITV Hub / STV Player

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
(Maximum 10 matches)
MAR 2016 FRIENDLY Ukraine 1-0 Wales
JUN 2001 WORLD CUP Ukraine 1-1 Wales
MAR 2001 WORLD CUP Wales 1-1 Ukraine

Ukraine did their nation proud on Wednesday night, producing a superb performance to defeat a below-par Scotland side by three goals to one.

For many of Oleksandr Petrakov’s players, this was the first time they’ve played a competitive football match in 2022 with domestic football in Ukraine indefinitely postponed due to the Russian invasion.

But you simply wouldn’t have known as, from the start, they were the dominant force in the game with a lacklustre Scotland struggling to keep up with their intensity.

Ukraine will be hoping to keep that momentum going when they face Wales in the play-off final on Sunday.

If they are to progress through to the World Cup, they’ll be needing another big performance from Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko who was absolutely superb in midfield in their semi-final victory over Steve Clarke’s side.

Despite Wales looking impressive in recent months, after watching that Ukraine performance on Wednesday and seeing so clearly how much this means to the nation in these troubling times, it’s hard not to back them to win this final and join England, USA and Iran in Group B at the 2022 World Cup.

JOE CITRONE

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