Match report
Right, that’s it from me. Stick around on site for all the reports and reaction. Cheerio!
Here’s Chris Coleman: “The performance was even sweeter than the points. This group of players are on the way to more success, this is just part of the journey. We respect everyone but there’s nothing to fear. When we play like that, why should we have any fear?”
Wales coaching staff applauding players back as they return from lap of honour pic.twitter.com/JpuNv4eiFS
— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) June 20, 2016
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And looking ahead, it takes Wales out of France’s path in the (potential) quarter-finals. And places England there instead.
Well, well, well. The third-placed team from either Group A, C or D await Wales in the last 16: it’s still pretty unclear but Albania, Northern Ireland and Czech Republic look the most likely in my book. England will take on the runners up in Group F: Iceland, Portugal, Austria or Hungary.
That’s it full-time: England 0-0 Slovakia. WALES TOP THE GROUP!!
They’re deep into five minutes of added time in Saint-Etienne. It’s still 0-0.
Full-time: Russia 0-3 Wales
Peep! PEEP!!! PEEEEEP!!! They’ve done it. What a moment for Wales! What a performance.
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90+3 min: And cue images of more tearful Wales fans. They’ve got every right to have a tear in their eye this time, though.
90+2 min: Dzyuba scoops the ball over the bar once more as the ball drops loose from a corner.
90 min: Two minutes of added time stand between Wales and the last 16 of Euro 2016.
89 min: If – and it’s a big if, as England-Slovakia hasn’t finished – Wales top the group the third-placed team from either A, C or D – so Albania, Northern Ireland (possibly) or Czech Rep (possibly) – await in the last 16. And I’d back this Wales side against any of that trio.
88 min: This really has been a superb performance from Wales – at turns thrilling and professional. “What’s the Welsh for tika taka?” wonders Ian Morgan.
86 min: “Whilst I agree with Chris Drew, can I add this to the list of sporting moments that bring a tear to the eye,” requests Andy Gordon.
85 min: Dzyuba slides in and scoops an effort over the bar from six yards.
84 min: “If Treorchy have to sing anything on this week of Mametz it has to be this,” writes Kerry Davies.
83 min: Bale’s night is done. He goes off to a standing ovation. And he’s replaced by Simon Church.
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82 min: Pass, pass, pass, go Wales. Ole, ole, ole, go their fans.
80 min: This game, having bounced around like a toddler fuelled by a Haribo overdose for 70-odd minutes, has now curled up in a corner and gone to sleep. The Russian team can’t wait to get out of Toulouse.
79 min: … Ignashevich absolutely leathers it. Into the Welsh fans behind the goal.
77 min: Chester clumsily whacks into Kokorin 30 yards from the Wales goal. Dangerous free-kick for Russia …
75 min: Joe Ledley goes down with what looks like a touch of cramp. Suspiciously conveniently, it’s on the far side of the field and his number has just been raised by the fourth official. He goes off, on comes Andy King.
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74 min: The spice that was creeping into the game has dissipated with that third goal. Hence the first Wales change: Joe Allen gets a deserved rest – he’s been superb tonight. On comes David Edwards.
73 min: “Two things that bring tears to my eyes,” writes Chris Drew. “Firstly, Wales qualifying out of the group. Secondly, this.”
72 min: Ramsey picks Mamaev’s pocket in midfield. Mamaev pulls him back … but doesn’t show a second yellow for some reason.
71 min: And still, as it stands, Wales top the group.
70 min: Smolov off, Samedov on for Russia.
69 min: “At what point can Wales be confident enough to give Bale some time off?” wrotes Adam Hirst late in the first half. Now would be the point I think. Though I doubt he’d want to come off given the state of the Russia defence.
GOAL! Russia 0-3 Wales (Bale 67)
And that should be that. Bale gets the goal his performance has thoroughly deserved. Ramsey pokes the ball beyond the Russia defence, the offside Vokes smartly ignores the ball, which allows the charging Bale to pick up and poke his third goal of the tournament beyond Akinfeev.
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67 min: A little hint of frustration has crept into the Russia side now, which is no surprise.
66 min: … which is nodded across goal by Vokes and evades Ledley by a yard or two.
64 min: Mamaev deliberately looks to check Allen as he scurries back to make a challenge. He’s booked. And Bale has another set-piece …
63 min: Glushakov hits a first-time effort from distance but drills the ball into the ground and sends it bobbling wide.
61 min: Bale again looks to shimmy past a terrified and backpeddling Russian central defence. This time he really should play the pass, though, and his failure to do so means the attack breaks down.
60 min: “Re: Germany of the late 1990s/2000,” begins David Brennan. “I think this has been exaggerated. In 2002 they reached the world cup final (luckily but still) and Bayern won the champions league in 2001…and lost the final in 1999 with 10 Germans in their team. Dortmund reached the UEFA final in 2002 and Germany even won at Wembley in 2000. Germany were slightly unlucky in 1998 and their blip from 2000 to 2006 was caused by poor coaching, poor selection, injuries and players like Effenberg shunning the team and Basler preferring drinking. No excuse for this Russian team mind.”
58 min: … he does, but he bends the ball well wide of Akinfeev’s left-hand post.
Updated
57 min: Allen wins a free-kick as Golovin rather aggressively checks the midfielder. Bale might fancy this …
55 min: Aaaaand … cue Wales breakaway. Akinfeev’s tippy-toes come to the rescue as Bale – again – shoots at goal from a decent position.
54 min: Smolov spanks a shot from distance. Blocked. Then Kombarov puts in a glorious cross of which no one can get on the end.
52 min: A weird moment: Shirokov was the captain and no one particularly wants the armband. Ignashevich takes it but doesn’t put it on, but the referee insists someone has to don it. Eventually it finds its way back to Akinfeev (which, I suppose, might have been the problem) who pulls it on.
51 min: Chester bursts from defence to but the brakes on a Russia counterattack. And a second substitution from Slutsky: Golovin replaces Shirokov.
50 min: Gunter gets round the back and his low cross is diverted into the side-netting by Kombarov. The resultant corner comes to nothing but Wales will be very happy at the way this second half has started.
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49 min: “Thanks so much for posting my wife’s mails,” writes calf-twang’s Phil Grey. “It’s adding to the wonderfulness. Just wanted you to know that I’m a 52-year-old Welsh Man City fan, so I had to wait 35 years for City to win something, and my entire life for Wales to qualify for anything. I’m enjoying every minute of this, apart from the final one against England.”
47 min: Bale cruises forward and yet again forces Akinfeev into a low save. That’s nine shots on target for Wales – Bale must have had four or five of them.
46 min: Wales force an early corner, which they take short. Bale’s return pass to Ramsey is a little loose though, and Russia clear.
PEEP! Off we go again. Russia have made a substitution – Aleksei Berezutski replaces his twin brother Vasili.
“I’m just baffled why Russia are so bad,” writes the baffled Kári Tulinius. “It’s a country of nearly 150 million people, there should be a deep well of talent. And historically there have been lots of great players. How can this rabble be the national team?”
It’s a strange one isn’t it? Though it’s worth remembering these things can be cyclical – remember the Germany team of the late 90s and early 00s.
Here, meanwhile, the plan, if you can call it that, has simply been to attack in numbers. There’s no real cohesion to their buildup but it does mean that when the ball drops in the box, there’s plenty of white shirts around to pick up the loose ball.
Half-time: Russia 0-2 Wales
Peep! What a half for Chris Coleman’s side.
45+1 min: Ramsey has half a chance inside the Russia box but takes an extra touch when it wasn’t really needed. At the other end, Smolov pings a hopeful shot straight at Hennessy.
45 min: Taylor whips a low cross into the box, where the ball is met by a Russian boot. We’ll have a minimum of one minute of injury time
44 min: Bale wins a free-kick on halfway for a shove by Ignashevich.
43 min: More Russia pressure but the Wales backline stands firm.
Neil Taylor's last goal, for Wrexham at Grays in 2010 (at 7m33s) https://t.co/zC6YmHWKJx #Wal
— James Dart (@James_Dart) June 20, 2016
41 min: But back come Russia, with a couple of blocked efforts of their own. This is a terrific game now.
40 min: Make than 10 and eight. Bale again breaks away, swerves past one defender and forces the goalkeeper into a low save.
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38 min: … and Bale again thunks a shot at Akinfeev. That’s the ninth goal attempt from Wales, the seventh on target.
37 min: Kombarov, with four white shirts to pick from in the box, only finds Hennessy’s palms again. Russia committed seven players to that attack, so again there’s space on the break for Wales …
36 min: Kombarov swirls in a corner and Ramsey is on the end of it to flick away for a Russia throw-in.
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35 min: 2-0 is, of course, the most dangerous score in football. The good news for Wales, though, is Russia seem to be the least dangerous team in the tournament. I’m really not sure what Slutsky was thinking with his gung-ho set-up here. It’s played right into Wales’ hands.
34 min: … which Chester flicks on for a Russia throw-in.
33 min: Ramsey thumps a shot at goal from 30 yards. Akinfeev just about shovels the ball behind. Wales corner …
31 min: Allen is the man rampaging on to the Russia back line this time. He lays off to Bale, who tumbles in the Russia box. File under: It Would Have Been Soft But You’ve Seen Them Given.
Updated
30 min: It should be 3-0. Smolov loses the ball in the Wales box and Bale is on his bike. He surges 50, 60, 70 yards, cuts inside and shifts the ball on to Vokes. He has time to pick is spot but can only hit Akinfeev.
29 min: “Injury update,” reports Karen Martine Grey, or our calf-knacked Wales fan in Norway. “He’s in tears. Difficult to know if it’s pain or joy.”
27 min: Fine save from Hennessy! Ashley Williams misjudges a long punt down the middle and ends up controlling the ball for Kokorin, whose shot is very well turned away by the Wales goalkeeper.
26 min: Every time – and I mean every time – Russia lose the ball while attacking, Wales hum with threat on the break. The latest counterstrike ends with Vokes nodding weakly at goal.
24 min: Russia force a corner, which Kombarov swings straight into the hands of Hennessy.
22 min: Russia are a shambles at the back, with both full-backs pushed maniacally high up the pitch on the attack. “This is Wales’ game Toulouse now,” honks Andy Gordon.
GOAL! Russia 0-2 Wales (N Taylor 20)
Neil Taylor? Neil? Taylor? It is indeed! 149 appearances for Swansea – zero goals. But he’s got one in his third game at Euro 2016. Bale is given the freedom of midfield and rumbles coolly forward before slipping a pass behind the right-back Smolnikov to put Taylor through on goal. He has an age – an age – to think about his shot, after which he opts to punt the ball straight at Akinfeev. He’s a little lucky to see the ball fall back to him and makes no mistake this time, volleying the ball past the goalkeeper from close range.
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17 min: Berezutsky continues with head bandaged in Elastoplast beige. Fingers crossed for a Corlukaesque switch up at half-time:
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16 min: Vokes and Berezutsky crash into each other in mid-air and it’s the Burnley man who is penalised. He led with the arm, which is never a very good idea, and while the Russia defender gets some treatment, Eriksson writes V O K E S in his little black book and produces a yellow card.
15 min: Yes, Wales top the group As It Stands. But it’s a bit early for that sort of business. Russia have responded to the goal by launching a few pretty wild balls towards the Wales box.
13 min: “Ramsey and Allen are playing like they’re personally affronted by the idea that Wales is a one man team,” writes Matt Dony.
12 min: That was a cracking goal but it was oh-so-easy for Wales to carve Russia open.
GOAL! Russia 0-1 Wales (Ramsey 11)
What a start! Allen is the creator, Ramsey the finisher. Allen picks up a loose ball in midfield and has the time and space to pick a perfect pass through to the onrushing Ramsey. The Arsenal midfielder takes a touch then dinks the ball over the onrushing Akinfeev.
Updated
11 min: … Ramsey hits the one-man wall.
10 min: Berezutski crashes into Allen to give Wales a free-kick out on the left, 35-odd yards from goal …
8 min: Vokes looks to have the beating of the Russia central defenders in the air. He nods a clearance down to Bale, who puts Ramsey away. The trio can’t quite fashion an opening between them but it was three-on-three for a while there.
7 min: This more open than a liquor store on payday. Wales are being given the space to pass, Russia are throwing bodies into every attack.
6 min: “First injury of the game,” writes Karen Halling Grey in Norway. “My Welsh husband just pulled his calf muscle jumping in the air thinking Wales would score on the rebound ...” Oof. I pulled mine in a heroic central defensive performance last Saturday (alongside the formidable yet cultured Paolo Bandini of this parish). Painful. Get some ice on it.
5 min: Kombarov’s lofted pass forward down the left touchline is as aimless as it is overhit.
4 min: Shirokov clatters into Allen in midfield – there looks to be a bit more fire in the Russia side than we’ve seen in the two games thus far.
2 min: Bale cuts inside from the right and stings Akinfeev’s palms with a rasping shot from the edge of the box. Vokes is offside from the rebound (although Akinfeev was equal to his shot anyway).
Updated
1 min: There’s a cracking atmosphere in Toulouse as Russia mount the first attack.
Peep! Russia gets us under way.
Anthems x 2 √
Handshakes x 22 √
Kick-off imminent.
Click-clack, click-clack … the players are in the tunnel. Referee Jonas Eriksson (Swe) leads the teams out.
Here’s Chris Coleman in the tunnel: “We’ve put ourselves in a great position. Russia have got everything to play for also so it should be a real good game.”
ITV, who are showing the game here in the UK, have just broadcast a really lovely video package on Gary Speed, who was there right at the start of Wales’ journey to these finals. It has Craig Bellamy back in the studio struggling to hold back the tears.
An emotional tribute to Gary Speed, who did so much for Welsh football and will never be forgotten #WAL https://t.co/g99wEmg7zq
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 20, 2016
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I can’t really emphasise enough what a bad idea this is:
The teams
Russia (4-4-1-1): Akinfeev; Smolnikov, V Berezutski, Ignashevich, Kombarov; Smolov, Mamaev, Glushakov, Kokorin; Shirokov; Dzyuba. Subs: Lodygin, Guilherme, Shishkin, Neustadter, A Berezutski, Yusupov, Golovin, Shatov, Ivanov, Samedov, Torbinski, Schennikov.
Wales (5-3-2): Hennessy; Gunter, Chester, A Williams, Davies, N Taylor; Allen, Ledley, Ramsey; Bale, Vokes. Subs: Fon Williams, Ward, King, Robson-Kanu, G Williams, Edwards, Richards, Cotterill, J Williams, Collins, Vaughan, Church.
So having been unchanged in their first two games, Russia make four changes for the decider – Neustädter, Golovin, Shatov and Schennikov are all out; Kombarov, Mamaev, Glushakov and Shirokov come in.
Wales make one change from the England game with Sam Vokes replacing Hal Robson-Kanu up front.
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In why-are-you-spoiling-our-childish-fun news, Russia are the home side. So the TV graphics will read RUSWAL rather WALRUS. Hmph. Nevermind, I’m still going to shoehorn in this Knowledge question from 13 years ago:
“While watching Wales take on Russia, I noticed that the score in the top left corner of the screen was WAL 0 1 RUS,” observed Peter Scarborough in 2003.”Remove the numbers and you’ve got a WALRUS. Can any other teams (international or otherwise) make up the name of an aquatic mammal?”
Who would have thought that such a question would get the knowledge readers’ minds whirring so frenziedly - even if few of you managed to stick to the aquatic mammal specification? Elliot Jacobs did so with an imagined meeting of Belgium and Uganda, thus producing BELUGA - a type of whale. An impressive start, Mr Jacobs, but the rest of our respondents were forced to look on dry land for their tittersome combinations.
Graeme Peden is obviously a man with a sharp-focusing pair of binoculars and a green wax gilet, having come up with the distinctly ornithological example of Finland versus China (FINCH). Meanwhile Nick Parkhouse speculates that Martinique versus Monserrat might be a heavily-built burrowing rodent (MARMOT).
Moving away from mammals, this question also prompted some timeless gags, not least from Luke Dempsey: “When Real Madrid play Manchester United in the Champions League, ESPN2 in the United States puts the score in the top left hand corner as MAD MAN, which is nice, don’t you think?
Finally, Wayne from Frankfurt rounds us off nicely with this tale: “I recall with pleasure seeing a satellite transmission of a game between Arsenal de Sarandi and Newell’s Old Boys a couple of months ago,” he titters. “The match status in the corner of the screen was amusingly rendered as ARS v NOB.”
Our font of all knowledge includes thousands more questions and answers, all of which can be accessed by simply clicking here.
Who needs what?
As you can see from this extremely useful explainer:
ICYMI I took a look at the permutations for #ENG and #WAL in the remaining Group B matches: https://t.co/ZK0A6C7bG6 pic.twitter.com/JeEtqp2MUU
— Ben Mayhew (@experimental361) June 17, 2016
and in this handy video:
Wales can finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th, Russia 2nd, 3rd or 4th. While Chris Coleman’s side can, and indeed probably will, get through with a draw Russia need to win, and hope results in this group and others help them out.
And what awaits in the last 16? The winner of Group B takes on the third-placed team from either A, C or D – so either Albania, Northern Ireland (possibly) or Czech Rep (possibly). In slightly more straightforward news, the runner up from Group B gets to face the runner up of Group F in the last 16, although that could be any one of Hungary, Iceland, Portugal and Austria. And the third placed team in Group B, if they make it through as one of the best third-placed teams, will play either the winner of Group D (probably Spain, maybe Croatia) or the winner of Group C (probably Germany, maybe Poland). Got it? Good.
Preamble
This isn’t just about qualification for the last 16. This is about revenge. And, no, we’re not talking about the ABC TV series starring Emily VanCamp in which, according to IMDB, “an emotionally troubled young woman makes it her mission to exact revenge against the people who wronged her father”.
No, we’re talking about Euro 2004 and THAT play-off. Wales have never actually beaten Russia (though they did triumph over the USSR in October 1965 thanks to Ivor Allchurch’s late winner in Cardiff, nine days after the great striker’s 36th birthday). Since then the teams have met six times since, with four Russian/USSR wins and two 0-0 draws.
And of course, the meeting most remembered in Wales is that in the play-offs before Euro 2004 when Russia’s 1-0 win at the Millennium Stadium sent them to the finals at the expense of Mark Hughes’s side, a result that was upheld despite Egor Titov’s failed drugs test in the first leg.
Qualification for this tournament may have soothed the wounds, but how sweet would it feel for Wales should they take their place in the last 16 at the expense of the team that did for Giggs and co 12 years ago?
Wales missed their first chance under John Toshack in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup when an-actually-very-good Russian side did the double. This is a weaker Russian side, though, and, we are assured, confidence still courses through this Wales squad despite those two late goals in Lens. They have a shot at what would be a hugely satisfying piece of history.
Kick-off is at 8pm BST.
John will be here shortly. In the meantime, have a read of Stuart James on Joe Allen’s rallying cry for Wales.
For Wales these are the moments that define lives as well as careers. Qualifying for a major tournament for the first time since 1958 was one thing. Creating a legacy that extends beyond taking part in Euro 2016 is quite another. Euphoric in Bordeaux and crestfallen in Lens, Wales are determined to leave Toulouse as history-makers.
The mood is one of cautious optimism within the Wales camp, fuelled by a determination to finish what they started with that victory against Slovakia in their opening group game. Edith Piaf’s Je Ne Regrette Rien may as well have been playing in the background as Joe Allen, capturing the significance of the occasion, urged his team-mates to seize the moment against Russia on Monday night and to leave south-west France without any nagging sense of what might have been.
