Wales dare to dream as they get ‘luck of draw’

Robert Page says Wales fans can dare to dream of a first World Cup finals appearance since 1958 after getting the “luck of the draw” in Zurich.

“If you had a wish, you’d want two home games," said Page, whose side have not been beaten at home since November 2018 – a run of 16 matches.

Wales were among the six seeded teams guaranteed a home semi-final tie in the

World Cup play-offs after finishing second in their qualifying group.

The Dragons were paired with Austria in that section of the draw, with the winners then handed a home tie against either Scotland or Ukraine for a place at Qatar 2022.

In doing so, Scotland and Wales avoided big guns Italy and Portugal, who were drawn together in the same play-off path to determine Europe's last three World Cup qualifiers.

“We had to work hard for one and we got the luck of the draw for the second one, so the incentive is there for us,” said Page, inset.

“We’ll have two packed houses. We've seen the impact supporters can have on us in the recent campaign.

“We've given ourselves a great opportunity, haven’t we? It’s all there to play for. “I'm not going to lie, I had one eye on Portugal and Italy. You want to avoid, on paper, the better teams and they are fantastic teams. “Seeing them both finish in second place was a shock, but it’s good they’ve got together in the same group.”

Asked if Wales fans could dare to dream of ending a 64-year wait to be at a World

Cup, Page said: “Why not? Absolutely. That’s why we put all this work and effort into this campaign.

“Why can't we dream? That’s what we are here for.

“Since we were young boys growing up you always wanted to be part of a World Cup qualification campaign and then a World Cup. We are two wins away from it.”

Austria finished fourth in their qualifying group behind Scotland but qualified for the play-offs through their Nations League results.

Gareth Bale and company have done well against Austria over the last decade, winning two and drawing one of their three games.

But if Wales beat Austria, a potential ‘Battle of Britain' final against Scotland awaits.