Wales through despite losing to Italy

Wales have qualified for the Euro 2020 last-16 as Group A runners up despite a 1-0 loss to Italy.

Switzerland’s 3-1 win against Turkey was not enough for the Swiss to overtake Wales and they now need to wait to find out whether they will qualify as one of the four best third-placed teams.

Matteo Pessina scored the only goal of the game just before halftime when he got onto the end of a free-kick to finish past Danny Ward.

The result was largely put beyond doubt when Ethan Ampadu became the youngest player to receive a straight red card in Euros history after a stamp on Federico Bernardeschi.

Italy could have added to their opener late on but Andrea Belotti was thwarted by Ward before Bryan Cristante’s shot was stopped when heading towards the bottom corner.

Gareth Bale had a chance on the break but his volley went over the crossbar.

“It was tough for long periods. We were up against a great team who have gone 30 games unbeaten – that’s some achievement,” Aaron Ramsey told ITV Sport.

“But we showed great character, you can never question this team, we always give everything and we dug in.

“I feel sorry for Ethan [Ampadu] – it was a bit harsh maybe. He certainly caught him, it was one of those decisions that could have gone either way.

“It was important to create a couple of opportunities and we could have nicked a draw on another day. We need to be more consistent throughout the game but we are through in second place and we are delighted.”

Wales will now play the runners up of Group B in Amsterdam next Saturday.

Cover Photo: “Flag flying” by Bods is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0