Will Ukraine make sporting headlines?

The draw for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has already been made, yet not all 32 participants have been decided. To be precise, there are still three open starting places to be allocated. One of these three starting places will be played out on Sunday evening in the Welsh capital Cardiff. The clash between hosts Wales and Ukraine will start at 6 p.m.

The Welsh could put an end to Austria’s World Cup dream in the European play-off semi-final and can therefore continue to dream of only their second World Cup participation in the history of the association. For Ukraine, too, success would be tantamount to a second World Cup appearance and, given the current circumstances at home, would be an extremely emotional achievement.

The bookmakers don’t want to settle on a favourite ahead of the match. The three-way market between Wales and Ukraine offers balanced betting odds. Qualitatively, the visitors probably have more individual quality to offer, but Wales can count on the support of the fans.

Wales – Statistics & current form

The only previous World Cup appearance for Wales dates back to 1958, when the Dragons even reached the quarter-finals in Sweden before their journey ended against Brazil. That long wait could come to an end on Sunday night in Cardiff. Head coach Robert Page’s team is just one win away from that historic success. Page was originally Ryan Giggs’ co-coach before moving to the front row in November 2020.

Page did not have the prestige of Giggs by any means, but the results in recent months ensured acceptance among the population. Direct World Cup participation was not realistic in view of the superiority of the Red Devils from Belgium. However, second place, ahead of the Czech Republic, kept the World Cup dream alive.

Victory against Austria

In contrast to Ukraine, the Welsh had already been in the semi-finals in March. There, too, the Page eleven enjoyed home rights and celebrated a success against the Austrian national football team. The much-maligned Gareth Bale was the celebrated match-winner with his brace. Bale, who has since announced his departure from Real Madrid, has not been a guarantee of success at club level for a long time, but he gives the shirt off his back for his homeland. In these games, his incredible footballing class also flashes up again and again.

The dress rehearsal for the most important game of an entire generation went wrong in terms of results. At the start of the UEFA Nations League, Page’s team was narrowly beaten 1:2 in Poland. A game, however, that should not be overrated. After an exhausting season, Page did not want to take any risks and left several regular players out. On Sunday, a completely different team will be on the pitch.

The home side undoubtedly have a convincing home record, as Wales last lost a home match on 16 November 2018, with a 1-1 draw against the Czech Republic following their success against Austria. This means Wales have not lost at home for 18 matches. In that period, the home side have conceded just seven goals. Between Wales and Ukraine, the prediction that both teams will not score is a good one.

Predicted line-up for Wales:
Hennessey – Davies, Mepham, Gunter – Burns, Ampadu, Williams, Johnson, Wilson – Bale, James

Last matches played by Wales:

UEFA Nations League A Grp. 4
01/06/2022 – Poland 2 – 1 Wales

Friendly match
30/03/2022 – Wales 1 – 1 Czech Republic

World Cup qualifying UEFA play-off matches
25/03/2022 – Wales 2 – 1 Austria

WM Qualification UEFA 1st Round Grp. E
17/11/2021 – Wales 1 – 1 Belgium

14/11/2021 – Wales 5 – 1 Belarus

Ukraine – Statistics & current form

With Ukraine, the topic of “war” inevitably comes up. For more than 100 days now, a state of emergency has prevailed in the homeland. This is also an extremely difficult situation for professional footballers to conduct “business as usual”. However, the team of head coach Oleksandr Petrakov has the chance to put at least a brief smile on the faces of their compatriots in the current difficult situation. This chance is definitely a big boost for the team around Oleksandr Zinchenko & Co. More motivation is hardly possible these days.

Goosebumps atmosphere at the win against Scotland

Soccer unites and ensures that worries and fears can be put on the back burner, at least for the duration of the game. The biggest challenge for the Ukrainian players will be to ensure that the emotions present are converted into energy rather than pressure or fear of failure.

In the play-off semi-final against Scotland, the players looked visibly upset during the national anthem, but were able to keep a cool head in the aftermath. Former Dortmund player Andriy Yarmolenko put Ukraine in the lead and after the 2:0 by Benfica player Roman Yaremchuk at the latest, there was an exceptional atmosphere among the few fans who had come along.

Players like Yarmolenko and Yaremchuk are fully in the juice and have been able to do their job in recent weeks. In general, however, Ukraine currently has only ten legionnaires in the line-up, which means that a large part of the squad has not been able to play a competitive match for months. The cornerstones, however, earn their money abroad and are a great support for the team.

In terms of quality, the Ukrainian squad is superior to that of Wales in terms of both depth and width. With incredible motivation in the bag to do the homeland proud, currently giving the shirt off their backs to defend the country, many neutral fans would also lean towards Ukraine. Moreover, the Ukrainians have not lost any of their last eight official international matches. Arguments in favour of predicting an away win between Wales and Ukraine can therefore be found despite Welsh home strength.

Predicted line-up of Ukraine:
Bushchan – Mykolenko, Matvienko, Zabarnyi, Karavaev – Malinovskyi, Stepanenko, Zinchenko – Tsygankov, Yaremchuk, Yarmolenko

Last matches played by Ukraine:

World Cup qualifying UEFA play-off matches
02/06/2022 – Scotland 1 – 3 Ukraine

WM Qualification UEFA 1st Round Grp. D
17/11/2021 – Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 – 2 Ukraine

Friendly match
12/11/2021 – Ukraine 1 – 1 Bulgaria

World Cup Qualification UEFA 1st Round Grp. D
13/10/2021 – Ukraine 1 – 1 Bosnia and Herzegovina

09/10/2021 – Finland 1 – 2 Ukraine

Wales – Ukraine Direct comparison / H2H balance

The two teams faced each other for the first time in the group stage of the 2002 World Cup qualifiers in Japan and South Korea. However, there was no winner in these two matches, with both duels ending in a 1-1 draw. The third, and so far last, encounter was a friendly in March 2016, which the Eastern Europeans won 1-0.

Wales – Ukraine Tip

Both contenders for the last European World Cup ticket to the finals in Qatar have only participated in a World Cup once before. For Wales, that participation dates back more than 60 years, while Ukraine were represented in Germany in 2006. Given their home strength, the tendency would be in favour of Page’s team, but from a sporting point of view, the guest is certainly to be rated higher. Between Wales and Ukraine, betting on the Ukrainian victory is certainly risky, but justified.

The Welsh home strength and the strong Bale performances for the national team in all honour, but against a team that will give their last shirt until the last whistle and has more quality in sport anyway, only the home strength will not be enough. In addition, the game will be a tough mental task for both teams, as they will be under a lot of pressure.

Ukraine proved against Scotland that this enormous mental burden is not a hindrance but a real boost. Less risky is the prediction between Wales and Ukraine at DNB 2, for which a bet of five units is recommended