Last week’s 1-1 draws against Armenia in Yerevan and Türkiye in Cardiff mean that Cymru came third in Group D and so failed to automatically qualify for Euro 2024 in Germany. Therefore the nerve-wracking tension and guaranteed drama of the play-offs must, pity help us, be negotiated next March. This means a semi-final in Cardiff against Finland and then, if the Finns are defeated (and it’s a huge ‘if’), a final against Poland or Estonia, also in Cardiff. Given that the play-offs are four months away, it is far too early to contemplate them at this juncture – after all, by then World War 3 might have started or the planet may have been rendered uninhabitable, he said cheerily, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves…

Nor is there any point in offering analysis of the two draws. For me, soccer match reports hold as much interest as a description of someone breathing. Rather, the value of football writings lie in their historical sweep, cultural consequences, social and political contexts, individual biographies and statistical aggregations. So all I will add here is that Cymru have now gone six games without defeat and the head-to-head records stand at: v Armenia P4, W0, D3, L1, Goals F5-A7; v Türkiye P9, W4, D2, L3, Goals F13-A10.

As for my reaction to the disappointment of not qualifying automatically, um…will this do?

Video: YouTube