But trio assured Wales legends

ensures the five-time Champions League winner has nothing left to prove and increasingly less to offer on the pitch.

He won and converted a penalty against the USA in Wales’ opener but is now a shadow of his former brilliant self as he barely touched the ball against England.

Despite being restored to his favoured position wide on the right, Bale had few opportunities to cut inside on to his deadly leftfoot.

Whether we now ever see Bale again in a competitive game for Wales, or even for a club, is highly unlikely ahead of the forthcoming Euro 2024 qualifying campaign next year.

Ramsey, 31, who has 78 caps, only has a contract at Nice until next summer and can not have many more games left for his country either.

He continues to battle on gamely but is not the same player who got into the Euro 2016 team of the tournament.

Allen, 32, who has 74 caps, remains under contract at Swansea until 2024 and is most likely to continue his trademark midfield holding role.

Last night was surely their last hurrah together as form and fitness worries halt them.

Yet if anyone deserves to enjoy Wales’ place among the elite on the big stage, it is this trio.

Bale pulled out all the stops to fire Wales to Qatar with a spectacular free-kick against Austria in their play-off semi-final before a winner against Ukraine to clinch qualification.

Those magical highs can never be erased and it enabled Welsh players and fans to savour their first World Cup since 1958.

It also completed the vision the late Gary Speed had and nurtured while boss before his tragic death in 2011.

Wales’ “Sons of Speed” , as the actor Michael Sheen described them, stopped before training this week to show their respects on the 11th anniversary of his passing with a minute’s silence.

FAW chiefs are determined they will not have to wait another 64 years to return to the top table.

New stars need to step up like Brennan Johnson, who replaced Bale at the break.

But the Holy Trinity’s legacy should inspire another generation of new Welsh starlets at some stage.

So while the trio may soon be gone, they surely will never, ever be forgotten.

MISERABLE NIGHT FOR A TRUE GREAT Bale in the thick of the action with Harry Maguire but he was left frustrated and did not make the second half