In the early morning of March 25, Beijing time, the World Preliminary Round European Zone play-offs began in full swing, and the Welsh men's football team played against the Austrian men's football team. In the end, Wales relied on real Madrid superstar Bale to win 2-1 and advance to the group final first, and the team is expected to return to the World Cup finals after a gap of 64 years.
There are currently 10 World Cup places in the European zone, with 3 more being created through play-offs. In Group A, Wales, Austria, Ukraine and Scotland were in the same group, and the winner entered the final to compete for a World Cup spot.
In the latest EDITION OF FIFA World Rankings, Wales is ranked 20th and Austria is ranked 30th. Since 2005, Wales have been unbeaten against Austria, with a record of 2 wins and 1 draw.
In the 25th minute of the first half, Bale scored a free-kick and staged a crazy kneeling celebration to help Wales take a 1-0 lead. This was Bale's first direct free-kick for Wales since his Euro 2016 match against England, and the seventh direct free-kick for the national team.
In the 51st minute of the second half, Bale's shot from the penalty area once again broke through the opponent's goal, helping Wales to extend the score 2-0.
After scoring one goal in the first half, Bale became Wales' all-time player with 12 goals, now increasing that record to 13. In addition, this is Bale's second performance for Wales since September 2016, and it is also on par with his last 35 goals at Real Madrid.
In the 64th minute, the Welsh backline was not defended, Sabitze's shot was refracted into the net on Ben Davis, and Austria pulled a goal back 1-2.
In the end, Wales maintained a 2-1 score until the end of the game, taking the lead to advance to the group final, and the future match between Ukraine and Scotland is the winner, and now Wales is only one win away from returning to the World Cup.
In the history of the World Cup, Wales only reached the quarter-finals in 1958, and has been absent since then, and is now led by Real Madrid superstar Bale to the World Cup, and only one more win can achieve the goal.