Wales' First Minister tonight urges the nation’s football team: “Dare to dream”, as they prepare for their World Cup kick off on Monday.
The Dragons will make just their second ever appearance in a World Cup finals tournament - 64 years after their debut.
Welsh Labour leader Mark Drakeford backed the squad to progress out of Group B, which includes England, Iran and the USA.
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, he said: “The beauty of sport - the great thing about sport - is that when you get to that level, when you’re in the tournament, on any day any team can beat anybody else.”
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Pointing to Wales’ glorious run in the European Championship six years ago, he went on: “We didn’t think in 2016 we would be in the semi-finals but we got there - and we should dare to dream again.
“We should think about getting through the preliminary part of the tournament into the knock-out stages and then go as far and as deep into the tournament as we can.”
Mr Drakeford told of the “enormous support and admiration” among the Welsh public for the team, and “the huge interest that there will be around the tournament” as the players take to the pitch.
He added: “They can be absolutely confident that people in Wales will be there behind them 100%.”
Mr Drakeford revealed he was looking forward to friendly rivalry with football-mad Labour leader Keir Starmer if Wales beat Gareth Southgate’s men when the sides clash in Qatar on November 29.
Asked if he had a bet with Arsenal fan Mr Starmer about the outcome of the match - and if he was looking forward to texting him after a Welsh victory - Mr Drakeford said: “A Wales v England match always has that extra ingredient in it and it will matter even more to people in Wales to make sure that we get a good result against England.
“He’s a very keen football supporter so he will certainly know if that happens.”
Aged 68, Mr Drakeford is still too young to remember Wales’ only appearance in a World Cup.
In 1958 they were knocked out in the quarter final, losing 1-0 to eventual tournament winners Brazil after a 17-year-old called Pele scored the game’s only goal.
“I don’t remember anything at all about it - you have got to be even older than me to remember the last time,” admitted the First Minister.
He flies out for Wales’ opening match against the USA on Monday night - and will seize the chance to promote Wales abroad.
“The fact that Wales are there is enormous for us,” said Mr Drakeford.
“The relationship between Wales and the United States is an important one for us.
“We’ve got many businesses based here in Wales that are owned by people in the United States, we have many students who come from America to study at our universities, so it’s a real opportunity for us to do more to raise the profile of Wales and the understanding and knowledge of Wales among an American audience.”
The worldwide global audience will provide a rare chance to showcase the nation in the international spotlight.
“Five billion households around the world will be hearing about Wales, and many of those may not even have heard of Wales - or certainly not know much about us,” he said.
“The fact that we are playing England is an additional opportunity because it brings home to other people who don’t follow things in the way we do that there’s more than one country in the United Kingdom.”
During his trip to the Middle East, the First Minister will hold talks with Qatar Airways about restarting its twice-daily flights to Doha, which were suspended when the coronavirus pandemic struck.
He will also drum up support for the UK and Ireland bid to host the 2028 European Championship, with Cardiff’s Principality Stadium among 10 grounds earmarked to hold games.
“There will be opportunities to talk to people who will be involved in that process while we're there,” he said.
