What next for Wales and Rob Page?

Having reached both Euro 2026 and Euro 2020, along with the 2022 World Cup Finals in Qatar, plenty was expected of Wales heading into the Euro 2024 qualification campaign. 
However, Rob Page’s side struggled to deal with the weight of expectation and have ultimately come up short in their qualification bid.  

Reaching a major tournament was something that Welsh fans dreamed of prior to Euro 2016 but ever since, the Red Wall has been relatively spoilt by the success of the side on the pitch. 

Welsh football has undergone a transformation in popularity in Wales and many people expected them to reach Euro 2024. 
 
However, Poland proved to be a task too tall for Wales this time around and now Cymru will need to focus their attentions on reaching the 2026 World Cup. 
 
Polish Pain 

Having cruised past Finland in the play-off semi-final, Wales arrived for the final against Poland full of confidence and backed to the hilt by thousands of fans inside the Cardiff City Stadium. 
 
However, Poland have a long history of going deep in major tournaments and they made it very difficult for Wales to play from the outset. 
 
Both sides had reasonable chances throughout the course of the 90 minutes and extra time, and it was ultimately the Poles who held their nerve in the penalty shootout when it mattered. 
 
Ruing missed chances 

Qualifying for Euro 2024 was never going to be easy for Wales, who were grouped with Turkey and Croatia just to make it to Germany. 
 
However, they picked up some surprising results against both of the aforementioned sides but dropping points against Armenia both home and away proved to be costly. 
 
A heavy home defeat by the Armenians in addition to a point on the road proved to be vital for Wales, who then went down the lottery of the play-off route, much to the surprise of many football betting sites. 
 
Group of death for Poland 

One of the strange scenarios unfolding in all the madness at the Cardiff City Stadium was the knowledge that whoever did qualify for Euro 2024, would have a mountain to climb when they got there. 
 
Both the Netherlands and France are in the group alongside Poland and Austria, which has been coined the group of death by many punters and betting sites. 
 
However, Poland proved in Cardiff that they are a plucky outfit, and they will be up for all the challenges ahead of them in Germany at Euro 2024. 

It was heartache for Wales, as they crashed out of the Euro 2024 mix, losing the qualification final to Poland in Cardiff, on penalties. 
 
For Wales, the future does look bright, but Rob Page and his staff will need to take stock and kick on again, with qualification for the 2026 World Cup on the agenda next.