Wales' World Cup score to settle after Qatar 'nightmare'

Wales picked up just one point from their three games at the 2022 World Cup

2026 World Cup qualifying: Wales v Kazakhstan

Venue: Cardiff City Stadium Date: Saturday, 22 March Kick-off: 19:45 GMT

Coverage: Watch on BBC One Wales, iPlayer, BBC Sport website & app, plus S4C via iPlayer. Text commentary and highlights on BBC Sport website & app. Listen live on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Wales will start their World Cup qualifying campaign on Saturday looking to right the wrongs of history.

This is not the familiar tale of the many near misses that littered their painful distant past, but rather a recent triumph that turned into dismal failure.

By reaching the 2022 World Cup, Wales realised a dream; glorious catharsis after 64 barren years without playing on football's biggest stage.

But once they got to Qatar, that dream became a nightmare.

As one Football Association of Wales official in Doha put it: "We'd waited a lifetime, and then it was a disaster."

It was not simply Wales' first-round exit that was so dispiriting, but the manner of it. This was the opportunity of a generation, squandered - and it still rankles.

That is why this team view the 2026 World Cup as "unfinished business" according to midfielder Joe Allen, a chance to make amends for Qatar.

Wales not only want to secure their place at next year's tournament but make a meaningful impact when they get there, having failed so miserably to do so last time.

"It is something that sticks with me and I'm sure it sticks with a lot of the guys," says captain Ben Davies.

"The best moment of Qatar for us was probably just the Ukraine [play-off] game in getting there. It was disappointing out there and it was something that was tough to get over for a while.

"We didn't really show how good we can be on the world stage and that hunger to go and do it again is definitely there."

'Undercooked, unsure and unhappy'

The significance of qualifying transcended football for Wales, a country which had never enjoyed the global attention that comes with a modern-day World Cup.

They had less time to prepare than other teams in Qatar, having only sealed qualification five months earlier with a play-off win over Ukraine - but the FAW understood the logistics of major tournaments having been to the previous two European Championships.

Euro 2016 in particular had been a transformative success for Wales, though a World Cup was on a different level.

The nation grasped the cultural and political value of this opportunity but, in terms of the football, there were reservations.

Manager Rob Page had performed admirably after stepping into the role in difficult circumstances following Ryan Giggs' abrupt departure in 2020.

Having led the team to the knockout stages of Euro 2020, Page etched his name into Welsh football history by becoming the first man to take Wales to a World Cup since 1958.

That can never be taken away from the former captain but, even by his own admission, this was a job he never thought he would have, considering his only previous managerial experience had come at Port Vale and Northampton Town.

Page was popular with the Wales squad but some performances during World Cup qualifying, such as a goalless home draw with Estonia – as well as the 4-0 thrashing by Denmark at Euro 2020 – had prompted criticism, with some questioning his credentials at this level.

"The players all liked Rob as a person but some were unsure about him as a coach," another FAW source tells BBC Sport Wales.

"When the squad met up in Cardiff before travelling to Qatar, the feeling seemed to be that they weren't as well prepared as they could have been."

Matters did not improve when they got to Qatar. The timing and location of training sessions had to be changed at the last minute because of the searing heat, while some staff felt team meetings were disorganised.

Some players were also unimpressed by the content of training sessions and, with the likes of Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Allen already lacking match sharpness due to limited game time at their clubs, there was a pervading sense that Wales were entering this tournament undercooked.

"Could we have gone with fresher legs from the start? It's easy to say now, in hindsight," Page said after returning home.

Page only realised in hindsight what many felt was obvious before and during the event; his lack of foresight would prove costly.

'We were just there'

Rob Page is the only man to have managed Wales at two major tournaments

Wales' World Cup campaign started to unravel at the very moment it began in earnest.

They were fortunate to draw against the United States in their opening game, Page admitting he got his selection and tactics wrong as his side were outplayed by dynamic, athletically superior opposition.

Bale's late penalty rescued Wales on that occasion but, with their all-time leading scorer's influence waning as retirement loomed, Page's side would have no such luck in their remaining two fixtures.

The manager said there were "lessons learned" against the USA but he proceeded to repeat the same mistakes against Iran as Wales were overwhelmed physically once again, hopelessly overrun as Iran won 2-0.

More than effectively extinguishing Welsh hopes of reaching the second round, this felt like the beginning of the end of their golden generation.

Bale, Ramsey and Allen were all key figures in Wales' dizzying ascent to the Euro 2016 semi-finals but, in the baking desert heat of Qatar, they had been reduced to shrivelled imitations of their former selves.

The final ignominy was a 3-0 defeat against England which could have been a far more severe drubbing had Gareth Southgate's men felt the urge.

Just a week after their first World Cup game for 64 years, Wales were heading home.

"Hopefully, next time we qualify it won't just be about being there," says defender Neco Williams, who started all three matches.

"Last time, we were just there."

Plenty wanted Page gone while others felt World Cup qualification had made him close to unsackable, or at least had earned him another chance.

However, he was soon under pressure after a humiliating 4-2 home defeat against Armenia derailed their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.

Although he held on to his job despite missing out on qualification, Page was eventually dismissed last summer and replaced by Craig Bellamy.

Bellamy has started superbly, unbeaten in six games having led Wales to the Nations League's top division and instilled a bold new playing style in the process.

His ultimate aim, as he stated on his first day in the job, is to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

And more than that, having seen how Wales fared in Qatar and how that disappointment still burns in his players, Bellamy wants his team to do themselves justice if they get to next year's competition in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

"These boys have got to a World Cup. I understand the motivation to move that again because of what happened last time," he says.

"We always talk about 'us against the world' but we're not an underdog. I don't believe in that, and I won't have it. Now, at times you use it, but you can't live on it because it only lasts so long.

"For me, it's always 'no, we are more'. We think more of ourselves than anyone else thinks of us."