Wales exit the World Cup following 3-0 defeat against England
Wales’ first World Cup appearance since 1958 was brought to an abrupt end following defeat to England in the final Group B game for both sides.
Welsh hopes of progressing were hanging by a thread heading into a group finale in which Gareth Southgate’s men only needed to avoid a four-goal loss to progress to the last 16.
The 104th meeting against England was the first to be played at a World Cup and England comprehensively won Tuesday’s clash 3-0.
The reward for England is a last-16 meeting with Senegal on Sunday.
Wales’ draw with the United States and heart-breaking late loss to Iran meant they faced an uphill battle against a side who controlled a lifeless first half without creating too many clear-cut chances.
Chesney Hawkes’ surprising half-time appearance was the most entertaining moment of the evening until the 50th minute, when Rashford stepped up to score a from a free-kick from distance.
The half-time performance of popstar Hawkes was as surprising as the news that Brennan Johnson was replacing Wales captain Gareth Bale due to injury at the break.
Wales quickly saw hopes of a first win against England since 1984 extinguished as the second period got underway.
Joe Rodon was adjudged to have fouled Foden and Rashford took the resulting free-kick from 24 yards, that beat Ward and found the back of the net in the 50th minute.
Within two minutes England were 2-0 up.
Rashford pressed Ben Davies on the right flank and the ball ricocheted forward to Kane, who sent a low driven cross to the far post where Foden passed the ball into the back of the net.
Deflection
Wales attempted to reduce the deficit. Jordan Pickford was panicked by a curling Daniel James effort and produced a fine reaction save to prevent Harry Maguire deflecting a Kieffer Moore shot home.
Southgate rung the changes with the game seemingly over, allowing Kane to get a breather, Kyle Walker to come off after his first start since October and Kalvin Phillips to get some minutes under his belt.
Wales defender Davies limped off and Aaron Ramsey joined James on a booking after a poor challenge on Jordan Henderson as the match looked set to peter out.
Rashford then burst forward showing good footwork and composure before sending a fierce strike through Ward’s legs for England’s 100th goal at World Cup finals tournaments.
The Wales goalkeeper soon denied the 25-year-old his hat-trick, before thwarting Jude Bellingham and watching Foden hook the rebound wide under pressure.
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We’ve got to look at the positives. They did very well the qualify at all, the first time in the lifetimes of most Welsh people alive today (but surely not the last). Onwards and upwards now. And they put Wales on the world map and brought people here together and created an increased sense of patriotism.
Time for a rebuild I think, keeping some of the younger core players. The best days for the team and our newly independent country, lie ahead
Wales needs to go back to the drawing board.and start again from scratch. We’ve depended too.long on Gareth Bale and the old guard rather than bringing on the next generation. And although Bale & Ramsey served Wales valiantly throughout their illustrious careers were mere shadows of their former selves. Both looked burnt out. They were largely ineffective this tournament and other than the odd pass or shot on goal were invisible. They talked the talk but failed to walk the walk. Saying that. The entire squad were lathargic at best. Painful to watch. Hurts to see Wales being ridiculed by… Read more »
Oh stuff the Towk Spow’ clowns. The channel of faragian gammons and Wetherspoons day-drinkers. It’s just static. Merely chaff. Qualifying for the WC is progress. Fairytale endings are for children. Next time we qualify from the group. After that, semis. Might be the best we ever do. We are a small nation with a great ravenous parasite on our backs. We need to stop thinking of ourselves as a massive wealthy nation. We are not. If we can offload the baggage we may be a small wealthy nation one day. So look at the sporting successes of Eire, Norway, Denmark.… Read more »
Gwŷr A Aeth Gatar …
As much as we applaud Rob Page as manager for reaching Qatar, he was, as against Denmark in the Euros, out thought, and limited in his tactical approach. While being honest that he got it wrong v the USA, he did exactly the same v Iran, and at that point it was lost. Time for a new coach, or a assistant who is tactically more astute, to go along with the team rebuild. Thanks for the ride, it was enjoyable to get there, but time for change.
No phoener hogie bach. Rhoi cweir iddynt yn eu senedd bwdr yw’r peth sy’n cyfrif. Daw ein dydd. Ymlaen mae Canaan.