Heartbreak for Wales as Republic of Ireland win in Cardiff to book play-off spot

James McClean sent the Republic of Ireland into a World Cup play-off as Wales’ hopes of qualification were ended by a 1-0 defeat in Cardiff.

Wales lost for only the second time in 22 qualifiers as the absence of star man Gareth Bale came back to haunt them.

The decisive moment came in the 57th minute when Wales skipper Ashley Williams lost possession on the edge of his penalty area and Jeff Hendrick crossed for McClean to sweep home his fourth goal of the campaign.

What they said

Tweet of the match

Star man – McClean

Yet again, the West Brom winger was the man for the big occasion in an away qualifier. He produced an energetic performance on the wing for the visitors and popped up with the key moment to keep the Republic’s hopes alive of reaching Russia.

Main man McClean

McClean ended the qualification campaign with four goals, without which the Republic would not be heading for the play-offs. The 28-year-old scored twice in the last 21 minutes to secure a battling 3-1 win in Moldova last October, while his strike the following month against Austria was the only goal of an impressive away victory. His fine winner in Cardiff took the amount of points in qualifying his goals have been responsible for to six.

Wales World Cup woe

Wales may have reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016 but this group of players could not end their agonising wait for an appearance at the World Cup. It was back in 1958 the country last appeared in the finals of the global tournament and that run goes on despite only trailing for 33 minutes of their entire qualification campaign.

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Who’s up next?

The Republic of Ireland have their eyes on the draw for the play-offs, which takes place on October 17, while Wales turn their attention to Euro 2020.