Welsh pay penalty and miss Euros after shoot-out woe
WALES POLAND 0 0
WALES suffered heartbreak in their first-ever penalty shoot-out as Poland booked their place at Euro 2024 after a goalless 120 minutes.
Spot-kicks were needed on a tense evening in which Ben Davies had a first-half header disallowed for offside, but chances were scarce in this Play-off Final.
Wales were also reduced to 10 in the final seconds as Chris Mepham was banished for a second yellow card.
Poland converted five perfect penalties with Robert Lewandowski, Sebastian Szymanski, Przemyslaw Frankowski, Nicola Zalewski and Krzysztof Piatek successful against Danny Ward.
Wales matched them as Ben Davies, Kieffer Moore — via the underside of the crossbar — Harry Wilson and Neco Williams scored.
But Daniel James saw his effort pushed out by Wojciech Szczesny as Wales lost 5-4 on penalties and wild Polish celebrations subsequently began.
It was a cruel end for the hosts who had given everything to qualify for a third consecutive European Championship.
Poland sought to take the sting out of a fever-pitched atmosphere by frustrating Wales with their ball possession.
Wales had edged their way back into the contest as the interval approached and had the ball in the net in the final moments of the half.
Moore met Williams’ cross and Davies guided his knockdown beyond Szczesny in the Poland goal, but the assistant’s flag cut short Welsh joy and VAR showed it was a correct call with Davies offside by inches.
The tension was palpable as Szczesny held headers from Moore and Mepham, and Lewandowski fizzed wide from 25 yards. Jakub Piotrowski and Szymanski had openings in an extra 30 minutes that Poland dominated, but Ward did not have a single save to make in the match.