Can Gareth Bale make it for Wales to reach FIFA World Cup for first time after 1958?
Wales has only qualified for one final tournament in FIFA World Cup in 1958, anyhow they were eliminated by the eventual winner Brazil in the quarter-finals.
New Delhi: Gareth Bale’s football to-do list is to reach the FIFA World Cup with Wales as they prepare to kick start another qualifying campaign.
Wales Captain has enjoyed a trophy-laden career, winning 4 Champions Leagues trophy with Real Madrid and 4 domestic honours. However, Bale is strongly determined to help his country secure a World Cup finals place. Wales has only qualified for one final tournament in FIFA World Cup in 1958, anyhow they were eliminated by the eventual winner Brazil in the quarter-finals.
The team, who had lost out to the Republic of Ireland for a spot in the World Cup play-offs 4 years ago, commence their campaign to qualify for the Qatar 2022 against Belgium, which is ranked number 1 in the world, on Wednesday. Wales will be again manager-less, as Ryan Giggs is on bail having denied allegations of actual bodily harm and an assault. Wales will be missing their key players Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies due to injury.
Tottenham forward was part of Wales that edged Belgium to reach the Euro 2016 semi-finals. Bale is all set to return to his former team Real Madrid when his loan ends this summer, said “Coming into my Wales career the main thing was to play in a major tournament. We’ve managed to do that and now to be able to tick everything off the list it would be to qualify for a World Cup”.
“We don’t want to just qualify for one or two tournaments but want to keep qualifying and making sure we’re pushing Wales in the right direction. For me, to qualify for a World Cup would be amazing.”
Wales midfielder Joe Allen hinted that this might be his last chance to reach World Cup and Bale shared that sentiment “He is probably correct, it is massive for us … It is something that all of us players have dreamed of.”
Bale stated that he is expecting to head back to Madrid after Euro 2020. “The main reason I came to Spurs this year was to play football first and foremost but going into the Euros I wanted to be a match fit. The original plan was only to do a season at Spurs and then after the Euros I’ll still have a year left at Real Madrid. My plan is to go back and that is as far as I have planned.”