MADRID, 4 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Wales of former Madrid player Gareth Bale and Ukraine, who eliminated Scotland on Wednesday, will fight this Sunday at Cardiff City Stadium (6:00 p.m.), in the final of Route A of the ‘playoffs’, for the last European ticket to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where England, Iran and the United States are already waiting in Group B.
The Welsh venue will host the final fight for the thirteenth World Cup place for the European teams, an all-or-nothing duel in which both teams will entrust their two references in attack, Bale, who said goodbye to Real Madrid this week, and Andriy Yarmolenko, who already scored last Wednesday in the semi-finals at Hampden Park.
After half an hour, the West Ham striker opened the scoring with a shot that Craig Gordon could not reach; Roman Yaremchuk increased the lead after the break, and although Callum McGregor closed the gap, Artem Dovbyk was responsible for ending any hint of doubt in discount (1-3).
Previously, Ukraine had finished the qualifying phase in Group D undefeated, although six points behind leaders France, which condemned them to the playoffs. The war over the Russian invasion and the postponement of the ‘playoff’ have maintained uncertainty until this week.
Meanwhile, Wales only lost their first match of the group stage, but the immaculate progress of Belgium, against which they were worth points on the last day, frustrated their plans to get the direct ticket. In the qualifiers, he knocked out Austria in March (2-1), and is now just one win away from the World Cup.