Hello and welcome to our live blog about Wales vs. Ukraine and let’s just get ahead of that and say: come on, Ukraine. The World Cup needs you. I’m sorry, friends from Wales. But once you’re not the lively, skinny outsiders, you’re the partygoers, the favorites, the neutrals want to lose. Yes, it’s the feeling of being English.
The powerful boys from Ukraine beat Scotland in Glasgow with 3: 1 a few days ago. The Welsh kicked Austria out in their own semi-final. Poland, by defeating Sweden, and Portugal, by defeating Northern Macedonia, have already gone that route. They will join Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Croatia, England and Germany to meet the European challenge. I just saw that the Saudis have gotten there too. This should lead to some interesting scenes, given their relationship with the Cathars at the moment.
Obviously, many neutrals will support Ukraine, but what an opportunity this is for the Welsh. They have not been to the 1958 World Cup and honestly will not have a much better chance than a one-off match at their own stadium against a team nine places below them in the FIFA rankings (18 matches 27).
Gareth Bale is the captain of Wales in the final of the World Cup playoffs against Ukraine in Cardiff.
Wales made a change from its semi-final victory over Austria in March, with Kiefer Moore replacing Harry Wilson as the Dragons aspired to qualify for their first World Cup since 1958.
Ukraine named the same team that secured last place, winning 3-1 in Scotland on Wednesday, with Premier League pair Alexander Zinchenko and Vitaly Mikolenko.
He plans to resume competitive football in the country in August, although he was attacked by Russia after President Vladimir Zelensky approved it.
Andriy Pavelko, President of the Football Federation of Ukraine, revealed details to the Associated Press about his talks with Zelensky and FIFA and UEFA leaders to find a safe way to play men’s and women’s matches in his homeland.
Ukraine was forced to abandon its leagues in February when Russia launched an invasion that Zelensky said killed at least “tens of thousands” of Ukrainian civilians and bombed large parts of many ruined cities.
But as Russian forces were redeployed east and south, fighting subsided in the area near the capital, Kyiv, and elsewhere. There is optimism that the sport could be revived to lift the spirits of the nation, which is trying to qualify for the World Cup on Sunday by winning as a guest in Wales.
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