Wales beat Belarus 5-1 keeping their World Cup qualifying hopes alive

Credit: PA

Wales beat Belarus at Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday night, keeping their World Cup qualifying hopes alive.

Captain, Gareth Bale marked his 100th cap for his country by leading his team to a 5-1 victory.

Speaking ahead of the game, he said: "The most important thing is the game not the occasion so as much as I'm going to enjoy hopefully having the 100th cap, as soon as that whistle goes, I won't be thinking about anything else other than trying to get those three points."

Those three points came from goals by Neco Williams, Ben Davies, Connor Roberts and two from Aaron Ramsey.

Artem Kontsevoi also scored one goal for Belarus.

It was Ben Davies' first ever goal for Wales. Speaking after the game, the Spurs defender said he was "very happy" to have scored but was "happier" that Wales won.

He said: "I'm obviously very happy but happier that we won. It was amazing, it's been a long time coming. It's something you dream about as a kid.

"I thought we were very good but I think we've played better. It's still in our hands, we've still got a chance to cement that second place and we're determined to do that."

Ben Davies scored his first goal for his country

Rob Page was clear in his pre-match talk that his Cymru side were targeting maximum points and a strong finish to the campaign.

Wales are guaranteed a World Cup qualifying play-off spot at least after Spain won 1-0 against Greece on Thursday.

The Spain victory saw Luis Enrique's men secure a top-two finish in Group B.

And that confirmed Wales as being guaranteed qualification for the play-offs by virtue of their efforts in the Nations League.

With a play-off place already guaranteed, the runners-up position in Group E was the focus and Rob Page's side produced a strong attacking performance to deliver three points in style. 

Rob Page said he was 'very proud' of his team Credit: PA

Page described his team's performance as "outstanding."

"I couldn't be more proud of the players", he said.

"Tonight we proved that when we create chances, with they players we've got, we score goals. They're preparing already for a big game on Tuesday against the world number 1 and we're going toe to toe with them in front of a home crowd and we're going to give it our best shot."

Wales has not played at a World Cup since 1958, when they also qualified via the play-offs.