Page banks on youth as Wales target Euro spot

Wales manager Rob Page says the team have come “a long way” since the retirement of Gareth Bale as they prepare to host Poland in a play-off final today with a place at Euro 2024 at stake.
Victory in Cardiff would take Wales to a third successive European Championship and a fourth major tournament out of five after they qualified for the 2022 World Cup. But this time they are without talismanic former captain Bale, their record caps holder and goalscorer, who retired shortly before the start of Euro 2024 qualifying, in January 2023.
“We had one of the world’s best footballers and it shows how far we’ve come in a short space of time,” said Page, whose team beat Finland 4-1 in their play-off semi-final last week. “We are only one tournament past Gareth’s retirement and one win away from qualifying. We’re a country where, if we can be there or thereabouts at the end of the campaign to qualify, while we’re still in this transition of introducing young players without some of the world-class senior players we’ve had, then we’re in a good place. That’s where we are at this time and it’s quite a significant move. It shows the strength in depth and quality we’ve got coming through.”
A clutch of players remain from the squad that reached the semi-finals at Euro 2016 in Wales’s first major tournament since the 1958 World Cup, including defender Ben Davies and midfielder Aaron Ramsey. But Page has focused on introducing younger players over the past year. Ethan Ampadu, 23, and 19-year-old Jordan James form the midfield axis while Brennan Johnson, Daniel James and Neco Williams also provide pace and energy.
“Having younger legs doesn’t guarantee positive results, but it gives you the best opportunity,” Page told reporters on Tuesday. “Athleticism was one of the biggest things we took from the World Cup. Seeing some of the teams – Canada, Morocco, the USA – their midfield three was athletic.”
Poland, featuring star striker Robert Lewandowski, booked their play-off final spot with a 5-1 hammering of Estonia in Warsaw, where the unfancied visitors were hampered by an early red card. “We know they’ve got an abundance of quality,” said Page. “They’ve got a new manager (Michal Probierz) and they’ve had some positive results since (their qualifying campaign). But they’re in the play-offs for a reason. They would have been favourites to qualify and we’ll take note of that.”

Ukraine eye spot at first major tournament since Russian invasion
Meanwhile, Ukraine will bid to qualify for a first major tournament since Russia’s invasion of the country when they take on Iceland in a Euro 2024 play-off final today, while Georgia target history against Greece.
Serhiy Rebrov’s Ukraine missed out on the 2022 World Cup, losing in the play-offs to Wales, but will be favourites against Iceland in Wroclaw, Poland. They appeared set to miss out when trailing Bosnia and Herzegovina late on in Thursday’s semi-final, but kept their hopes of reaching the tournament in Germany alive with goals from Roman Yaremchuk and Artem Dovbyk.
“I told the players before the game that I hoped they would bring a bit of happiness to the people in Ukraine right now,” Rebrov told reporters.
Rebrov, a former Tottenham and West Ham striker who made 75 international appearances, took over in June last year but could not lead Ukraine to automatic qualification as they were edged out for second place in Group C by reigning champions Italy on head-to-head record.
Iceland have not reached a major tournament since the 2018 World Cup but have continued to punch above their weight, beating Israel 4-1 last week to move within one win of returning to the championship in which they famously reached the quarter-finals in 2016.
Ukraine made the last eight three years ago, their best performance at a Euro, before losing 4-0 to eventual runners-up England. A spot in Group E at the Euros, with matches against Belgium, Slovakia and Romania, is up for grabs.
Georgia could qualify for a major finals for the first time as an independent nation when they host former winners Greece. Willy Sagnol’s side set up the clash with Greece by seeing off Luxembourg 2-0 and will be boosted by the return of star forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from suspension.
Frenchman Sagnol has said he will likely leave either following the Greece match or after the Euro if Georgia qualify. The winners will be placed in Group F for the tournament proper, alongside Portugal, the Czech Republic and Turkey.
The only other time Georgia have even come close to qualifying for a major tournament was when they suffered a 1-0 loss to North Macedonia in the play-off final in 2020.
Greece have only reached the Euro four times, most recently in 2012, but will be desperate to qualify to mark 20 years since their remarkable title triumph against the odds in Portugal.