Yet... there could be a lot the qualification battle

ning that one, too. SO, if the above scenario plays out everything would come down to a mouth-watering Cardiff finale – a win-or-bust game for Wales at home to the Irish.

They would be able to sell out the Principality Stadium twice over for a fixture like that, with Ireland probably able to shift tens of thousands of tickets.

But it seems inconceivable the FA of Wales would put cash ahead of qualification by taking Coleman’s team away from their favoured Cardiff City Stadium home and giving Ireland half the tickets.

Wales and Ireland would have to accept Serbia are the likely table-toppers, with a home win against Georgia probably a formality.

Austria will almost certainly win in Moldova, with so much riding on the game for them.

Under Martin O’Neill’s magnificent management, Ireland are more than capable of drawing in Cardiff and knocking Wales out of the equation.

But Wales do have better players and, as we saw during the Euros, Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey are more than capable of stepping up to the plate on the really big occasion.

We reckon Wales can win this one, which would mean a possible final table looking like...

This is where the ‘fun and games’ start

So if our predictions prove correct, and as we made clear from the start it’s a gigantic IF, of course, we could end up in a situation where Serbia go to Russia and Wales, Ireland and Austria are battling it out for the play-off spot with 17 points apiece.

Head to heads, which could favour Wales, do not come into it at this point.

The runner-up would be determined by a) goal difference, then b) greatest number of goals scored.

Only after that criteria would head to head become a factor.

There aren’t many thrashings being dished out in this group, so Wales’ Bale-inspired opening-day 4-0 triumph at home to Moldova could yet prove more significant than we at first thought.

But look, it’s hard enough trying to predict results with any degree of accuracy, let alone who would have the best goal difference. WOAH, hang on a moment. Even after the hard work to claw themselves back into the mix, Wales could still miss out.

Phase two of qualifying comes in at this point, to determine the eight best runners-up from the nine European groups.

This is based upon points accrued from games against sides finishing first, third, fourth and fifth, discounting the bottom-placed team.

Because of the number of draws we could have in Group D, there is a chance the unlucky runners-up could come from Wales’ pool.

Put it this way, it won’t be from Group G where one of Spain or Italy will probably finish second with 26 points. The truth is who knows what on earth is going to happen from here on in? But there are two things we can be sure of.

One is that there is still plenty to play for. The other is that we can expect lots more drama before Wales’ qualifying fate is sealed, one way or the other.