No, it wasn't a dream. Wales really did beat Ukraine 1-0 at book their spot at a World Cup for the first time since 1958.
If you needed any further proof that the game actually did happen, well, pick up a copy of any newspaper in this country today and take a look at its back page. The chances are, Gareth Bale and Co are plastered all over it.
What a wondrous night it was to be Welsh, watching that team achieve World Cup status on Sunday evening. But just how did that moment in time resonate with the national media here, as well as abroad? We take a look at some of the headlines this morning...
Read more: The best pictures from Wales' epic World Cup play-off win
No doubt Bale is Wales' greatest ever player - The Telegraph
"Oh the beauty, the humanity, the incomparable, searing emotion of football. What a game, what a sport, what a feeling, while if there was any doubt that Gareth Bale is Wales’ greatest ever player then he emphatically ended it here by forcing the goal that took them to the World Cup for the first time in 64 years.
"This was an occasion that will live long in the memory. There was Bale’s dramatic intervention, of course there was, but this was the most stirring of encounters and the scenes at the end were simply extraordinary and will endure.
"The Ukraine players were devastated. There were tears but through those tears there was also fierce pride, and the sight of the Wales fans all joining in the ‘thunder-clap’ communion as the Ukraine team stood in front of the large wedge of blue-and-yellow draped supporters was touching. Bale led his team-mates over and they joined in before Aaron Ramsey – a player who, like Bale, does not know what the future holds for him – walked to the other side and waited for his young son to be passed into his arms.
"As the celebrations, mixed with a sense of relief and almost disbelief, continued on the sodden turf the veteran folk singer Dafydd Iwan stepped forward to lead one final rendition of “Yma o Hyd”, the song he wrote 40 years ago which has become an unofficial anthem of Welsh football, and there were more tears. And smiles.
"The song translates as “Still Here” and Bale, joining in, is still here and will captain Wales to the World Cup for the first time since 1958, when they reached the last eight, defeated by Brazil who were inspired by a 17-year-old called Pele. From then to now there has been a long catalogue of near misses and deep disappointment; from Scotland in 1977 and 1985 to Romania in 1993. Many great players have not made it. But no more."
Bring on England! - Robbie Savage's Mirror column
"Bring on England – but even as a proud Welshman, I can only take my hat off to Ukraine. Of course it's fantastic that Wales are through to their first World Cup finals since 1958, when it took a goal from Pele for Brazil to knock them out in the quarter-finals.
"Of course I can't wait for Wales and England to lock horns in Qatar next winter in the group stage – it will be a delicious sequel after their meeting at Euro 2016.
"And I can understand Gareth Bale's euphoria when he said in his post-match TV interview that it's the greatest result in the history of Welsh football because reaching another World Cup means so much to us as a nation. But I have to admit: I wish it wasn't Wales who had to be the 'bad' guys who denied Ukraine a place at the tournament.
"The suffering, the devastation, the shocking scenes on TV every night from the invasion of their sovereign land is heartbreaking to witness. Had Ukraine been playing anybody but Wales, I would have been cheering for them in that play-off final.
"I could not be happier for Page, who has done an outstanding job to maintain a unity of purpose among this squad and keep Wales punching above their weight. I'm thrilled for Bale, who deserves to play at a World Cup tournament, the biggest stage in football, to crown a career that has brought him five Champions League winner's medals."
Wales withstood with well-placed goodwill of the world - The Daily Mail
"A beautiful tale played out here, it just wasn’t the one about small mercies in hell. About sport bringing shades of hope to gruesome pictures. No, it wasn’t that. It was the Welsh story and in its own way, it was magnificent.
"Important? Not in the context of wars. A pure delight to those it involved? A wonderful culmination to lesser journeys? Goodness, it will take some time for the red smoke to clear from the sky over this stadium. When the game was done, and what a slog it was, those exhausted players danced like maniacs. The mystery centred on where they found the energy after 90 minutes of swallowing big hits.
"On one end of the merry line was Gareth Bale, arms a waving blur after one of his less pronounced performances. At the other was Burnley’s reserve keeper, Wayne Hennessey, floating after the display of his life, and somewhere in the middle was Ben Davies, an exhausted man of priceless blocks. In a heap was Neco Williams, the Liverpool right back who turned Ukrainians inside-out on the left.
"As a collective, they were links in a chain that somehow withstood the well-placed goodwill of the sporting world, links in a chain that finally pulled Wales to the World Cup for the first time since 1958."
- Get your Wales World Cup 48-page souvenir special on Saturday, June 11. Order your copy via the online shop here
Bale eclipses Ryan Giggs and John Charles - The Guardian
"It was about Gareth Bale. If it was about Wales, it was always going to be about Bale. He may have played only 22 minutes of football in the 10 weeks since the playoff semi-final win over Austria; he may not be able to last anything like a full game; he may in effect have become a former player as far as Real Madrid are concerned; but he is still the player who makes Wales more than just another mid‑ranking side.
"There will be those who have their subjective preferences for John Charles or Ryan Giggs, Ivor Allchurch or Ian Rush, but what can be said now is that nobody has ever achieved more in a Wales shirt. It is not just that he inspired them to reach the semi-finals of the European Championship and to secure a first qualification for a World Cup in 64 years. It is that he achieved those feats six years apart. Remnants remain but this is an obviously different side from Chris Coleman’s and Bale has been key to both of them.
"Bale is a player these days who plays in snippets. He does not dominate matches as he once did. He is 32 and, while his dearth of regular football may perhaps prolong his career – if he wants it to – it also means a lack of basic match fitness. Yet somehow the game still revolves around him, as though the idea of Bale is enough to exert a gravitational force. And every now and again he will pluck a ball from the air with an extended foot or discover an angle that nobody else had seen to renew the strength of that idea."
Bale an absolute legend - AS
"Perhaps Gareth Bale's last service for top elite football, for his collection of impossible stories, of chosen feats, was Wales' qualification for the World Cup in Qatar. You already know: Wales, Golf, Madrid . This premise was taken to the extreme with victory over Ukraine in Cardiff in the playoff final leading the Welsh to a World Cup date 64 years later.
"With the advantage on the scoreboard, Wales dedicated themselves to waiting and counterattacking. In this context, the figure of Hennessey grew, another legend of this team like Allen or Ramsey, and his saves stopped the onslaught of a Ukraine that was playing to try to return to a World Cup and for the glory of a country invaded and devastated at the moment by Russia.
"Wales were able to sentence with a shot from Neco Williams to the post, although the last minutes were of tension, emotion and pride of the Welsh, who substituted Bale shortly before the end of the match with a thunderous ovation that reflects the tribute of an entire country for his idol. In a few days he will leave Madrid through the back door despite having won everything, and yet where he will be remembered most is in Wales. Taking them to a World Cup 64 after years is the last feat that remains to be written, after having previously led them to two European Championships. Absolute legend."
Hennessey was 'monstrous' - Calciomercato
"Wales is the last European place for the World Cup in Qatar. In the final against Ukraine, Page's men won 1-0 thanks to an own goal by Yarmolenko, who deflected a dangerous free-kick from Bale. The game was intense and vibrant, Ukraine created at least five clear scoring but found in its way a super Hennessey, monstrous especially against Dovbyk.
"On the other hand, it was a great match by Bale and Ramsey, with Wales also hitting a post with Brennan Johnson, the jewel of Nottingham Forest. Wales, after 64 years, return to the finals of a World Cup."
