This was never going to be an occasion short of lasting images. Perhaps the most memorable from a night Wales will always treasure was the sight of Gareth Bale singing along to Yma o Hyd as the entire squad, some wearing tricolour bucket hats that are a nod to their last appearance at a World Cup in 1958, all moonlighting as Dafydd Iwan’s backing choir, swayed to the soundtrack of their journey to Qatar. Tony Roberts, the goalkeeping coach who rushed to Wayne Hennessey at the final whistle following his heroic performance and led the team on an impromptu conga down the tunnel, played the role of conductor. After a glossary of painful near-misses, Wales will again play on the world stage after edging out Ukraine in a nail-biting and fraught playoff final.
From Bale being deep in conversation with Oleksandr Zinchenko seconds after the final whistle to all four sides of this stadium applauding Ukraine as they trudged off the pitch, emotions were, understandably, in overdrive. Then there was Aaron Ramsey pulling his shirt over his head, fresh from clutching his son, wearing a replica No 10 shirt, in his arms. Connor Roberts collapsed to the floor and repeatedly punched the air in a state of disbelief. Daniel James piggy-backed a member of backroom staff. Bale blew kisses towards his family, Robert Page beat his chest.