Wales back at World Cup is ‘more than sport’: Drakeford

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said yesterday that his country’s first World Cup appearance in 64 years will put the nation on the global map and was “more than sport”. The country of 3.2 million people has only qualified for the World Cup once before, in 1958, but led by former Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale they are finally back at football’s top table. Their opening match in Qatar is against the United States today, followed by Group B games against Iran and neighbours England. Drakeford, Wales’s highest-ranking politician, told AFP in Doha that it represented “more than sport”. “It is part of demonstrating what it means to be a small nation, but a small nation that’s able to be there on that global stage. “The World Cup will be in five billion households around the globe and many, many of those will never even have heard of Wales. “So it is a major opportunity to raise the profile of Wales for people to understand that in the United Kingdom there are four different nations, each with their own distinctive identity and history. “That’s an enormous opportunity.” Drakeford added that in a country with a proud sporting heritage, particularly in rugby, playing once more at the football World Cup “stands very tall and very proud in the sporting history of Wales”. The World Cup kicked off yesterday when the hosts Qatar played Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium.