Wales squander winning positionpublished at 08:15 GMT
08:15 GMT
Wales 1-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-4 on pens)
Dafydd Pritchard
BBC Sport Wales
For a third successive campaign, Wales found themselves two home wins away from qualifying for a major tournament.
Having successfully navigated the play-off to reach the 2022 World Cup – their first for 64 years – they missed out on Euro 2024 at the final hurdle against Poland, two years ago to the day.
Contrasting as the emotions were on those occasions, the experiences all contributed to how familiar a game of this magnitude felt for Wales. They had been here before.
This was for large parts a mature performance but, having looked like putting the result beyond doubt as they chased a second goal when 1-0 up, it was alarming how quickly Wales allowed the game to get away from them.
Bellamy’s substitutions laid bare his squad’s lack of strength in depth, as Wales faded badly and struggled to regain momentum.
This defeat will hurt the head coach and his players, who will use this pain as fuel for their attempts to qualify for Euro 2028, which Wales will co-host with England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.
Before then, however, they must analyse this defeat and learn some harsh lessons from a qualifying campaign which promised so much but ultimately delivered nothing.
Image source, Getty Images