Today is the day Wales discover their World Cup fate. The draw for the 2022 global tournament takes place in Qatar this afternoon with the world watching on.
The likes of Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Daniel James could - if they win their play-off final match with Scotland or Ukraine in June - be gracing the biggest football occasion of them all. And, boy, has it been some wait for the men in red.
Some supporters won't need reminding of the fact that Wales haven't qualified for the finals since 1958. Sixty-four years is a long time by anyone’s estimations. A lifetime. Now, Wales are just one game away from rewriting history and qualifying for the competition. The late 1950s was a golden time in Welsh football. Then manager Jimmy Murphy coached a team including Tottenham winger Cliff Jones, Swansea forward Ivor Allchurch and Juventus star John Charles.
Wales were placed in qualifying group four in a tough draw alongside East Germany and Czechoslovakia. They first beat Czechoslovakia 1-0 in Cardiff, however lost their next two fixtures. Their final qualifying game saw them overcome East Germany 4-1. This left Wales second of three teams in the group and eliminated from the World Cup at the qualification phase. However, they were offered a lifeline due to political reasons - with the story based around Israel.
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Initially, Turkey withdrew from their Asian qualifying group as they believed they should have been competing in Europe. This was followed by Indonesia also pulling out of the group as they didn’t want to play in Tel Aviv. Then, Egypt refused to face Israel because of the crisis in the Suez Canal, which happened one year prior. Finally, Sudan also refused to play Israel, so FIFA organised a play-off where one of the nine European nations who finished second in their qualifying groups would have a chance to play Israel home and away.
Reports claim the names of the nine countries were placed directly into the Jules Rimet (World Cup) trophy itself. The first name to be pulled out of the trophy was Belgium, who like four before them, refused to play Israel due to political reasons.
Next out, you guessed it, were Wales. As the headline suggests, no complaints were made, as they agreed to take on Israel in a two-legged clash where the winners would head to the World Cup. The first leg took place in Tel Aviv, where Wales won 2-0. Goals from Allchurch and Dave Bowen saw them come back to Cardiff with a decent cushion.
The return leg saw Wales win again by the same scoreline, with Allchurch netting the first and Jones scoring the second. For the first time, Wales were on their way to the World Cup. They faced a tough group containing Hungary, Mexico and Sweden. Three draws, including 1-1s with both Hungary and Mexico and a goalless draw against Sweden, saw Wales finish second in the group. As Hungary also finished on three points, a play-off match was arranged to decide who would go through to the final eight of the tournament.
Yet another Allchurch goal, and one from Terry Medwin, saw Wales come from behind in Solna to beat Hungary 2-1. Their reward was a quarter-final draw against Pele’s Brazil in Gothenburg. The game was extremely close and was only decided by a goal from the 17-year-old superstar in the making in the 66th minute. Brazil went on to win the tournament for the first time in their history. A tale of politics, fortune, and the odd Ivor Allchurch goal.
Wales’ first journey to the World Cup was far from plain sailing, so could they do the same this year and re-write 64 years of painful history? All eyes will be on Cardiff in June.
