On a night when Wales supporters’ minds were understandably occupied with the goings-on in Croatia, another clutch of countries came into play. It is in Switzerland on Thursday where Wales will discover whether they host Iceland, Finland or Ukraine in a Euro 2024 qualifying playoff semi-final in March, the winner of that one facing either Poland or Estonia in the final five days later.
In the end, the inexplicable award of a second-half Turkey penalty after Ben Davies was penalised for a push proved irrelevant given Croatia held on against Armenia to leave Wales wondering what might have been. Yusuf Yazici scored from the spot to cancel out Neco Williams’s delicious opener on a fractious evening. “From the first minute there was no thought of: ‘Don’t worry, we’ve got the playoffs, we’ll take our foot off the gas,” said Rob Page, the Wales manager.
Those of a Wales persuasion who consider themselves glass half-full will point towards the prospect of qualifying for a fourth major tournament in five as a more than respectable effort. Those glass half-empty will pinpoint taking a solitary point off Armenia, ranked 95 in the world, across two matches as where their dreams of automatic qualification ended. Perhaps the reality should be somewhere in between. Wales’s total Group D tally of 12 points was, Page said, about the figure he predicted – even if they achieved them in a roundabout way.
At the end of the first half Wales, a goal to the good, walked off the pitch to the sound of communal applause but there was a reason the atmosphere was not exactly electric as they disappeared down the tunnel. A few minutes earlier Croatia had taken the lead against Armenia, rendering even Wales’s best efforts here redundant unless Armenia could force a draw. Aaron Ramsey, the injured Wales captain, was checking his phone throughout the first half.
Page had called for vigour from kick-off and Wales were rewarded for a blistering start, a vibrant display that was essentially everything their lethargic showing in Yerevan on Saturday was not. Nathan Broadhead, the Ipswich forward promoted to the starting lineup, curled a shot wide inside five minutes and a couple of minutes later the wing-back Williams, a busy presence down the left flank, struck. Williams cut inside Ferdi Kadioglu and caressed an unerring right-foot shot into the far corner. Williams’s knee-slide sent him skidding along the turf and on the sidelines Ronan Kavanagh, Wales’s lead sports scientist, embraced Page.
Wales were aggrieved they did not get the chance to extend their first-half lead from 12 yards. Brennan Johnson, recalled to the starting lineup, was twice on the receiving end of clumsy challenges from the Turkey centre-back Samet Akaydin but both were deemed acceptable by the Slovenian referee, Matej Jug. Page placed his hands on his head in disbelief after Akaydin undoubtedly took down Johnson trying to keep chase in the right channel before taking the ball inside the box. Five minutes later the Tottenham forward was bundled over in the box.
Turkey overcame Germany in Berlin last weekend but were off-colour here and their manager, the former Italy striker Vincenzo Montella, responded by introducing Yazici in place of Abdulkadir Omur soon after the half-hour mark. Turkey were also forced into a goalkeeping change with Altay Bayindir, backup to André Onana at Manchester United, replacing the injured Ugurcan Cakir. Kerem Akturkoglu had Turkey’s first chance on 42 minutes, skewing harmlessly over Danny Ward’s goal after Yazici’s flicked header bounced on the penalty spot.
Qualified teams
Pot 1 Germany (hosts), Portugal, France, Spain, Belgium, England
Pot 2 Hungary, Denmark, Albania, Austria, Turkey, Romania
Pot 3 Scotland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Rep, Netherlands, Croatia
Pot 4 Serbia, Italy, Switzerland, three playoff winners
Playoffs Bosnia & Herzegovina, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Poland, Ukraine, Wales. Draw 11am, Thursday 23 November. Six semi-finals will be drawn (to be played on Thursday 21 March), leading to three finals (Tuesday 26 March). The winning three teams will complete the 24-strong Euro 2024 lineup
The tournament
Draw Saturday 2 December. Six groups of four will be drawn, with the top two in each and the four best third-place sides going into the last 16
Finals
Friday 14 June to Sunday 14 July 2024
Ward repelled an Akaydin header at a corner approaching the hour and there was a nagging sense that the tide was slowly turning in Turkey’s favour. They had succeeded in making life more uncomfortable for the hosts but the award of a penalty, from which they prospered, was extremely generous. Davies merely ushered Kenan Yildiz out of the way as the Turkey substitute attempted to latch on to a cross but the referee took a dimmer view. “We’ve conceded the softest penalty I’ve ever seen,” Page said. “I really can’t get my head around it.”
Yusuf Sari clipped the crossbar with a swerving strike and Johnson saw a strike correctly disallowed for offside but ultimately it was a result 1,200 miles away in Zagreb that had a greater bearing on Wales’s fate. Their quest to reach Germany’s finals continues. “The results here speak for themselves, we have always managed to step up to the plate here,” Page said, buoyantly.
