Wales fail to qualify for 2018 World Cup: What next for Chris Coleman's side?
Last updated on .From the section Football
Wales' hopes of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup were shattered by Monday's defeat at home to the Republic of Ireland, and the end of the campaign raised several questions about the future of Welsh football.
It posed questions about why Wales fell short, cast doubt over the future of manager Chris Coleman but also presented reasons to be optimistic with the emergence of a new generation of young players.
What went wrong?
Having scaled new heights with their historic run to the Euro 2016 semi-finals, Wales started this campaign with the unfamiliar status of being favourites.
They were among the top seeds and, although Group D always had the potential to be one of the tightest and most competitive in Europe, it did present Wales with a fine opportunity to qualify for a first World Cup since 1958.
Austria represented a favourable draw as second seeds, even if Serbia and the Republic of Ireland were two of the more difficult teams you could wish to face as third and fourth seeds.
Having revelled in their standing as underdogs in France last summer, Wales were now seen as a scalp for other sides and they had to contend with increased expectations.
Teams sat back and defended deep to negate the pace of Gareth Bale-led counter-attacks, while they also crowded the midfield to stifle the creativity of Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen.
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Wales struggled to overcome such tactics, with home draws against Georgia and Serbia - as well as a failure to score a single goal in two games against the Republic of Ireland - proving costly.
Coleman's side drew half of their games, squandering the lead in four of those five fixtures and leaving themselves with too much work to do in the closing stages of the campaign.
"I look at it and think if we can't qualify then we've come up short," said Coleman.
"I thanked my players for their work, for their passion, for making the nation proud again. We just didn't have enough in that last push.
"I'm super proud of the players. It's been a privilege to work with these players. I can feel how much they're hurting and it's not nice, but I told them: 'Stick your chest out.' They should be proud of themselves.
"I'm absolutely gutted we haven't made it, absolutely devastated, but it's not my first disappointment in life and probably won't be my last."
Wales' next generation
As Coleman spoke in the immediate aftermath of Monday's home defeat by the Republic of Ireland, the disappointment was etched on his face and detectable in his uncharacteristically hushed tones.
However, he was eager to point out how Wales' players - and particularly the younger members of the squad - would be stronger for this experience.
Although it ultimately ended in failure, Wales' World Cup qualifying campaign saw the emergence of several young prospects.
Ben Woodburn, Liverpool's 17-year-old forward, announced his arrival in spectacular fashion, scoring a brilliant winning goal against Austria just four minutes after coming on for his senior debut.
Two games later, with Wales needing victory in Georgia to keep their qualification hopes alive, Derby's Tom Lawrence struck his first international goal to cap a fine individual display in only his third competitive start for his country.
This campaign has also included first senior call-ups for Chelsea's 17-year-old defender Ethan Ampadu and Sheffield United's 20-year-old attacking midfielder David Brooks, both of whom could be in contention to make their debuts if Wales are in friendly action in November.
Their rise is timely, given the fact captain Ashley Williams is 33 and, by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Bale will be 33, Ramsey 31 and Allen 32.
Wales' assistant manager Osian Roberts, who is also the Football Association of Wales' technical director, has played a prominent role in the development of the country's younger players.
"This is not the end of an era for Wales because these players are going to go on to achieve more and play at more tournaments," he told BBC Sport Wales.
"Not only have we done well and competed in this group, we've freshened up the squad and the average age is getting lower and lower.
"The future is bright as far as we're concerned and the Welsh supporters should stay in good heart because there's more to come from this group."
What next for Coleman?
In the afterglow of last summer's historic run to the Euro 2016 semi-finals, Coleman said this campaign would be his last in charge of Wales.
As time wore on and Wales' chances of qualifying for the World Cup wavered, the 47-year-old was asked if he regretted the timing of his comment but maintained he would only consider his future once the campaign had finished.
Coleman will now take time off and "let the dust settle" before deciding whether or not to extend his contract, which expires at the end of the World Cup.
The players certainly hope he will sign a new deal, and they met Coleman after the defeat against the Republic of Ireland to urge him to stay.
"I think everyone in Wales - fans, players, staff - we 100% want him to stay on," said defender Chris Gunter.
"He's been a massive part of what we've done and he is the man to take us forward hopefully.
"If the powers that be can give him a really good contract to make him stay, he can carry on being the greatest Wales manager of all time."
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Small country, small time mentality.
England have 60m people; Wales have 3m! It's a clear advantage of resources! Anyone who thinks otherwise is an obtuse clown!
Ok
Wales have 3m people, Iceland have 330,000! It's a clear advantage of resources! Anyone who thinks otherwise is an obtuse clown!
You have to look at it in the right context. I've met loads of really nice Welsh people when walking in Snowdonia and the Brecons. I have never been treated wrongly because of being English. Quite the opposite. In fact, one Welsh lad offered me a lift back to my car even though it was miles out of his way. Football brings out primitive territorial urges regardless of nationality.
The state of California alone is bigger than the entire 4 countries of the uk put together .
And Usa are out ....
China ?
Government mandate to be competing as worlds best ...
Iceland ?
Stop trying to find excuses , you’ll be trying to blame genetics next .
Doesn't all this sniping on here make you want to move back across the border to live and work in Wales? Just wondering.
Yes, holding the WC in Russia has to be one of the most insane decisions in footballing history. It's like an accident waiting to happen.
We should definitely keep reminding you about '66 every 5 minutes. You seem to have forgotten about it :)
Shame your mob couldn't live up to your username by the way.
what next? hahahhahaahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahaahahahahahaahhahahahahaahahahahahahhahahahahhahahahaahahhaahahahahahhaahhaahhaahahh
Are you stupid I clearly used quotation marks to show a comment made by @3 and then used a paragraph to explain why that belief was totally wrong and silly and that what Wales done at Euro 2016 was greater than anything Scotland have achieved. But if you don't understand a simple use of punctuation then I don't have much faith in your intelligence.
The simple fact is Wales simply were not good enough. It happens to all countries at some time. Just regroup and and prepare to go again next time round.