When Wales faced the USA in their opening World Cup game in Qatar last week, it marked the end of a 64-year wait, the longest ever faced by a nation between successive finals appearances.
Many fans have waited their whole lives to see Wales at the tournament and some will admit they had thought the day would never come. But even for those who kept the faith, few would have envisioned Rob Page at the helm of a World Cup squad even two years ago.
It has been a long personal journey to Qatar for the Wales boss, who grew up in Tylorstown in the Rhondda Valley before going on to have an 18-year career that saw him feature for clubs up and down the English football pyramid and play over 40 times for his country.
Having joined Watford at the age of 11, he signed a professional contract with the club in 1993 and became captain four years later, leading the Hornets to back-to-back promotions as they reached they Premier League in the 1999-2000 season. Despite being voted the club's player of the season in its maiden top-flight campaign, Page couldn't stop Watford from being relegated and he was then sold on to Sheffield United for £350,000.
He also became captain of the Blades but despite some valiant efforts, couldn't quite take them up into Premier League, finishing a painful two points outside of the play-off zone in 2004, after which he returned to his home nation and signed for Cardiff City.
However, he endured a miserable time at Ninian Park, leaving just seven months after he joined having only made nine appearances for the Bluebirds. 2005 also saw the end of his 10-year international career, which had seen him make 41 appearances for Wales and captain the side once in what he described as the proudest moment of his career.
At club level, spells at Coventry City, Huddersfield and Chesterfield followed, before he announced his retirement in March 2011.
Having captained five out of the six clubs he played for, it was unsurprising that Page made a move into management after hanging up his boots, taking charge of League One side Port Vale in 2014 before taking up the reins at Northampton Town until he was sacked in 2017.
Two years later, he was appointed assistant coach of the senior Wales squad under Ryan Giggs, replacing Osian Roberts and overseeing big changes in the team's defensive record. When Giggs was arrested in November 2020, he took over the side as caretaker manager, leading them to promotion out of League B of the Nations League, and took permanent charge when the former Manchester United player was charged with assault the following April.
The rest, they say, is history, with Page taking his side to the round of 16 at the delayed Euro 2020 finals, before doing what no Wales manager had done in six decades - get them to the World Cup.
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