All was going to plan for Wales at Gothenburg’s Ullevi Stadium, until the ball was nodded towards the chest of a little-known 17-year-old, stood with his back to goal near the Welsh penalty spot.
The score was still 0-0 in the quarter-final of the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, and there were 24 minutes left to play. In one motion, the teenager trapped the ball, flicked it past defender Mel Charles, then fired a deflected shot into the bottom corner. “Who is this kid?” Welsh winger Cliff Jones later asked.
It was Pele’s first World Cup goal, in what would be Wales’ last World Cup match for 64 years. While Brazil went on to become world champions five times over, what followed for the Dragons was an epoch of heartbreak, of frustration, of missed opportunities, as a nation desperately craved a return to the biggest stage of all. Sometimes, it seemed as if it would never happen. But finally, that moment has arrived. Finally, Wales are back.
When Rob Page’s side take
