Dominant Wales roar through to Euro 2024 qualifying play-off final

First-half strikes from Southampton midfielder David Brooks and Nottingham Forest full-back Neco Williams had put them in the ascendancy, before former Norwich city striker Teemu Pukki had given the Fins hope before the break.

It wouldn’t take long for Wales to re-establish their two-goal advantage with Tottenham Hotspur forward Brennan Johnson restoring the margin straight after the restart with a close-range finish.

With the game seemingly won, former Swansea City speedster Dan James steamrolled dithering Finnish defender Miro Tenho late on to rob the ball and round goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky to add gloss to the scoreline on what was a more than satisfactory night for Welsh boss Rob Page.

Wales will now welcome Poland next in the capital on Tuesday night after Michal Probierz side thrashed Estonia 5-1 in the other Path A semi-final in Warsaw.

A far sterner test awaits from Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski and company than Thursday’s opponents, who were ranked 60th in the world and 31 places below Page’s team.

Wales, however, will be comforted by a strong record in the capital of only three defeats in 20 games during Page’s tenure.

Speaking to S4C after the win Page said:

“We got off to a great start and started both halves really well. 

“We had to address a few things at half-time. We needed to press a little bit higher up the pitch and we dealt with it better then in the second-half. 

“It could have been five or six, so it shows how far we have come. 

“The message is though, it is half-time – we now have a massive effort to put in on Tuesday, and we can’t wait! 

“We were disappointed with the goal we conceded. The two centre backs have run into each other tracking their markers and Pukki is not going to miss from there. 

“It made for an uncomfortable couple of minutes, but the way we started the second-half is credit to the lads. I thought they were excellent. 

“You just have to look at Brennan [Johnson] who has put in a performance like that, Harry Wilson, Kieffer [Moore] and Daniel James came on and scored on his 50^th cap. I’m so made up for him, it goes to show the confidence he has got. 

“We have players now coming off the bench full of confidence that are scoring goals at their clubs and that’s why DJ gets his goal tonight. 

“It’s half-time and we will enjoy the win, but we will build on this and take it into Tuesday.” 

[Lead image: Football Association of Wales]