injust his third game in four months gareth bale showed he is still good enough for the world stage. ion, wales were wrong—footed. the deflection helped austria back into the game. danjames could have settled it... james... by the end, wales were clinging on. but the red wall wasn't breached again. gareth bale had carried his nation forward. thanks to arguably the finest footballer ever to play in a welsh shirt, wales are now just a game away from qualifying for the world cup for the first time in 64 years. hywel griffith, bbc news, cardiff. and in the biggest shock of the night, european champions italy are out of the world cup. they lost in their play—off with north macedonia. aleksandar trajkovski scored the winner in injury time, and they will face portugal in the final eliminator — they beat turkey 3—1. that's the second consecutive world cup italy have failed to qualify for. scotland drew 1—1 with poland in a friendly at hampden. arsenal's kieran tierney scored for the scots before poland equalised in injury time. £10 from each ticket went towards unicef�*s humanitarian work in

injust his third game in four months gareth bale showed he is still good enough for the world stage. f games had made him greedy. bale once again with the midas touch. everything he does is turning to gold! dizzy with celebration, wales were wrong—footed. the deflection helped austria back into the game. danjames could have settled it... james... in the end wales were clinging on. but the red wall wasn't breached again. gareth bale had carried his nation forward. thanks to arguably the finest footballer ever to play in a welsh shirt wales are nowjust a game away from qualifying for the world cup for the first time in 64 years. hywel griffith, bbc news, cardiff. that's it. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. have a very good night. hello, and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are miatta fahnbulleh, chief executive of the new economics foundation, and adam payne, political editor of politicshome. hi there to both of you, thanks for joining us. let's have a quick look at what we've got on the front pages at what we've got on t

injust his third game in four months gareth bale showed he is still good enough for the world stage. ging on. but the red wall wasn't breached again. gareth bale had carried his nation forward. thanks to arguably the finest footballer ever to play in a welsh shirt, wales are nowjust a game away from qualifying for the world cup for the first time in 64 years. hywel griffith, bbc news, cardiff. and in the biggest shock of the night, european champions italy are out of the world cup. they lost in their play—off with north macedonia. aleksandar trajkovski scored the winner in injury time, and they will face portugal in the final eliminator — they beat turkey 3—1. that's the second consecutive world cup italy have failed to qualify for. scotland drew 1—1 with poland in a friendly at hampden. arsenal's kieran tierney scored for the scots before poland equalised in injury time. £10 from each ticket went towards unicef�*s humanitarian work in ukraine. meanwhile, england will be without arsenal forward bukayo saka for the upcoming friendlies against switzerland and ivory coast, after testing

if you cast your mind back to 2013, gareth bale's stock could not be higher paraded in front of expensive player in the world and despite multiple titles with real madrid, some in spain say bale lacks effort for club instead of country. though pictures like this don't help, wales, golf, madrid in order read the flag in 2019. disrespectful, misguided and ungrateful in that order read the headline in the spanish newspaper. three years on, and this criticism has continued. today, bale it took to twitter to have his say. the welsh captain said... christian jones is christianjones is a member of the welsh football fans group. he was at last night's game. this welsh football fans group. he was at last night's game-— last night's game. this has been auoin on last night's game. this has been going on for— last night's game. this has been going on for years _ last night's game. this has been going on for years now- last night's game. this has been going on for years now where i last night's game. this has been going on for years now where he last night's game. this has been - going on for years no

gareth bales led them to the euros and he still this teams great hope.rough injury and at 32 this could be his last chance. good to be one of the biggest games i've played in for sure. not having qualified for world cup before is something that i want to achieve, the country want to achieve. kick—off is good to be a little bit in nerves, it meant so much for us to play for wales and if you have nerves you probably should be playing. nerves you probably should be -la inc. ., , nerves you probably should be - in. ., , ~ , ., playing. tonight they face austria who like wales _ playing. tonight they face austria who like wales reach _ playing. tonight they face austria who like wales reach the - playing. tonight they face austria who like wales reach the euros i playing. tonight they face austria i who like wales reach the euros last 16 last summer. this world cup months fit around global events. the playoffs get there in knockout games, in the other survey files ukraine. some of their team have gone home to fight in war, their match and scott linda has been

injust his third game in four months, gareth bale showed he's still good enough for the world stage. gain and gareth bale had carried his nation forward. thanks to arguably the finest footballer ever to play in a welsh shirt, wales are nowjust a game away from qualifying for the world cup for the first time in 6a years. hywel griffith, bbc news, cardiff. you can see what it means to the captain, who tweeted later "special night. they are the best group of players i have worked with. i am blessed every day. it's just a group of lads playing together. they enjoy, they enjoy playing football together and they deserve to. they've got one more final to to win and they qualify for the world cup is crazy. isn't it? now the shock of the night came in italy. the european champions, will not be at the world cup. it's the second time running they will miss out after they were stunned by north macdonia, who defended heroically for 90 minutes and then scored the only goal, of their play—off semi—final in added time. so they will now play in the final eliminator against portugal, who beat turkey. i

and a stunning performance by gareth bale against austria takes wales even closer to the world cup finalsoming up in the sport on the bbc news channel, can england recover from a disappointing start in the third and final test against west indies in granada? good evening, from lviv in western ukraine. a month ago today the world changed when russia invaded this country. since then, thousands of russian and ukrainian troops have been killed, and a huge number of civilians. more than 3 million people have been forced to flee from ukraine. and today leaders of the western military alliance, nato, met in brussels to discuss what the world should do now. well, we start tonight with a special report from the city of kharkiv, less than 25 miles from the russian border. it has faced relentless russian missile strikes and shelling. our correspondent quentin sommerville and cameraman darren conway have spent time with two fighters who have been on the front line since the very beginning. violin plays a month of fighting alone. and russian guns still have not silenced ukraine's cry for freedom. at t

gareth bale says wales will use the hurt of previous near misses as inspiration for their world cup play—offbut haven't made it to the tournament since 1958. the welsh captain says they will have to give 100% and have no regrets. it is something that i would love to achieve for myself and my country, for the fans of wales. wejust my country, for the fans of wales. we just have to do kind of it has been a long time, but, no, it will be a regret, but, no, it will be a regret, but it will be a regret if we don't give it 100%. so the main thing for us as we go out on the pitch, all of us give 100%, don't leave anything left in the tank, and i think once you have done that it will not be any regret regardless of the results —— regrets. in europe, portugal and cristiano ronaldo face a fight to qualify for the world cup. they take on turkey in their play—off semi final on thursday. the portuguese team trained at porto's estadio do dragao ahead of the match. they're missing several key defenders for the game. that means that turkey have a chance according to their manager stefan kuntz, who is worrie

and coming up on the bbc news channel: wales captain gareth bale hits out at his critics in spain ases twice against austria to keep their hope of a first world cup in 64 years alive. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one o'clock. and welcome to the bbc as the war here rages on into its second bloody month, british military intelligence says ukrainian forces are successfully driving back russian troops from around the capital, kyiv. as you can see from this map showing russian advances has remained practically unchanged over the past fortnight. the uk ministry of defence say ukrainian counter—attacks, and russian forces falling back on overextended supply lines, have meant ukrainian troops have been able to reoccupy towns up to 20 miles east of kyiv. it comes as the authorities in the besieged ukrainian city of mariupol now say they believe around 300 people may have died when russia bombed a theatre last week, where civilians were taking shelter including many children. officials say their assessment is based on witness accounts — it can't be independently verified. from

end of 20 20s wales have their own superstar, gareth bale is the great hope and he has barely playedyear through injury and at 32 this year through injury and at 32 this could be his last chance. everyone of the biggest games i have played in for sure, not having qualified before, it is something i want to achieve and the country wants to achieve. it means so much to play for wales and a few were not nervous you should not be playing. tonight they face austria who reached the r 16 but this must face global events. and the other semifinal r ukraine. some of their team have gone home to fight in war, their match with scotland has been put back untiljune so wales could when they're semi but then wait three months for a final. i am watching _ three months for a final. i am watching the _ three months for a final. i am watching the scenes - three months for a final. i am watching the scenes unfold i three months for a final. i am watching the scenes unfold inj three months for a final. i —n watching the scenes unfold in what is happening in ukraine is appalling, it is more important that

that is to say, gareth bale is still here. clubs expect you to be loyal. but when you get to 33 or 34 years old, they treat you like a piece of meat at times. theyjust want you to leave because you are earning a lot of money. you were offered the contract in the first place, stick by the contract. jonathan, thank you for talking to us, and thank you for battling with that earpiece. it looks like it is trying to fallout the duration of the interview. mr; trying to fallout the duration of the interview.— trying to fallout the duration of the interview. g ., , ., , the interview. my ears are too big, that is what _ the interview. my ears are too big, that is what it — the interview. my ears are too big, that is what it is! _ the interview. my ears are too big, that is what it is! thank _ the interview. my ears are too big, that is what it is! thank you - the interview. my ears are too big, that is what it is! thank you for i that is what it is! thank you for talkint that is what it is! thank you for talking to _ that is what it i

wales captain gareth bale said his critics in spain were "disgusting" for suggesting that he had overplayedies that have kept him out of action for much of his time with real madrid this season. bale led his side to a world cup play—off final last night, scoring both goals in their 2—1 win over austria in cardiff. and at the age of 32, he knows this could be his last chance to reach a world cup. if they make qatar, it would be their first appearance in the finals since 1958. they have one more hurdle to overcome — an eliminator against scotland or ukraine — but the man in charge feels anything is possible with bale as their captain. when you've got somebody like gareth, there were questions about whether he would be fit or not, even if he is 60 or 70%, he is going to play, because you know he can win games for you and he steps up to the plate. and aaron ramsey is the same, he has won games for us before, and when you have big players like that, if you have a chance of them being fit, you play them, because you know at any given time they have a chance of giving a performance like that. the

the likes of gareth bale and aaron ramsey are expected to be rested.r wayne hennessey will captain the side, as he wins his 100th cap. my hero growing up was neville southall. i know nev reached 92, and i absolutely adore nev. i thought he was one of the best goalkeepers in the world at the time. but for myself, a massive achievement for myself and my family. a lot of hard work, ups and downs, injuries. so, yeah, for me, it's going to be a huge occasion and i can't wait. north macedonia have been making big waves in international football. they shocked european champions italy a few days ago to put them within 90 minutes of the world cup. only established as a country in 1991, they've been on a brilliantjourney, knocking out the european champions — a team ranked 61 places above them. signs have been there, beating germany last year, they qualified for the euros, as well, their first major tournament. now they need to get past portugal, who are ranked eighth in the world, if they're to take a place at their first world cup. translation: obviously, this

their captain gareth bale with two brilliant goals to help them seal a 2—1 victory over austria.e qualified for their seventh straight world cup finals, as they beat australia 2—0. substitute mitoma's double helped to book their spot. australia cannot finish higher than third, and will play the third—placed finishers in group a in a playoff, with the winners facing the fifth—best south american side for a world cup spot. on friday, attention turns to world cup qualifying in africa, as ten teams will be battling it out for five spots over the next few days for qatar 2022. the two—legged playoffs see some big ties taking place. one of those being a re—match of the africa cup of nations final, when egypt and senegal meet again. the other is two west african heavyweights, ghana and nigeria, who will face—off in kumasi. black stars legend sulley muntari speaks about the importance of the fixture. it's of the fixture. massive. we need to be able it's massive. we need to be able to make it to the world cup. as you said, we didn't go to russia, and then always when garner is in the world

gareth bale is expected to be rested.in austria this evening — they have striker lyndon dykes back fit for them. he's scored in his last four consecutive games for steve clarke's side. and northern ireland are in belfast, they face hungary. you can keep up to date, with all the evening's games — on the bbc sport website. it is touch and go for england women's football captain steph houghton to be fit for this summer's european championship. england boss sarina weigman says she will give houghton every opportunity to prove her fitness because of her importance to the side. weigman was speaking ahead of england's world cup qualifiers against northern ireland and north macedonia next month. their euros campaign begins on home soil onjuly the 6th. the history she has in the contribution she had over the years, i would like to give her a bit more time, but she needs to be fit and playing well and she's been out for a long time and in september, she came in and entered for the first time since i was there. and she played well b

gareth bale and aaron ramsey have been named in the wales squad ahead of their world cup qualifier play—off. the pair have been included desipte both having limited game—time this season. bale's only made two appearances for real madrid since wales last played in november. ramsey has only started twice for rangers, sincejoining on loan in january. that's all your sport for now. there's full coverage of day two of the cheltenham festival on the bbc sport website where you can follow all of today's big races. i'll have more for you later. back to you, victoria. we are going to show you this photograph again of nazanin zaghari photograph. this is the recent photograph. she is smiling, of course she is, she's on her way home. that confirmed by liz truss. she is accompanied by another british iranian, anousheh ashouri. mrs zaghari—ratcliffe was arrested six years ago and convicted of plotting to overthrow the iranian government — a charge she's always denied. she said that was complete nonsense. this photo was tweeted by tulip siddique, her mp. they will return from iran today. this is the resul

brilliant support and a genius in gareth bale a once in a generation player who was johnson said he would support -- despite the impact on what are your thoughts on that? i think it is very difficult to see how ukraine could -- at the moment with its players scattered and the inability to train and so on everybody will want to do the most generous thing in relation to them, but i don't imagine myself that i am so preoccupied by football. >> you think boris johnson should have thought more about it before he opened his mouth on the matter? >> well, i'm sure the prime minister was wanting to be generous. but, as i say, i think if you see the scenes that we see, on our television screens, you desperate scenes the people in ukraine have other things that they are having to deal with. >> mr. mark drakeford, we are in the midst of a big covid wave, the figures are even higher in scotland, and of course in england as well. you have adopted a cautious approach throughout this pandemic, so why are you lifting then, now, while we are actually getting into a case where we are seeing a spike in numbe

for wells, gareth bale school to brilliant goals as well as took a step closer to qualifying the first cup since 1958. the 21 victory against austrian their playoff semifinal. wells took the lead from bills his free kick, which sparked jubilant celebrations at the cardiff city stadium. the whales captain scored again early in the second half. wells are just one game away from reaching the world cup. they will take on scotland or ukraine and their playoff final. one team that won't be at this world cup's european champions, italy. they were beaten one nil by macedonia and their playoff match. scotland semifinal with ukraine was postponed, so they've played an international friendly against poland instead. -- the headed goal gave scotland the lead. poland will reported a controversial penalty and spot ditch time -- scored in the 94th minute to deny scotland. -- in another international game. arsenal forward missed england 's upcoming internationals against switzerland in ivory coast after testing positive for coronavirus. he had been isolating from the squad at st. georges park from wedn

wales captain gareth bale has hit back at spanish newspaper marca for a column which described him asrward — who scored twice against austria says he wants to use his profile to "change the way we publicly talk and criticise people". now, the biggest shock from last night was the exit of european champions italy from the world cup. they lost 1—0 to north macedonia, and that means they've missed out on a second consecutive world cup finals. boss roberto mancini refused to be drawn on his own future but is dismayed by the defeat. translation: last summer, we have the most beautiful _ translation: last summer, we have the most beautiful and _ translation: last summer, we have the most beautiful and satisfying - the most beautiful and satisfying experience in my career, and right now, it's the biggest disappointment. it's difficult to speak about anything else in this moment, and it want to be easy in the next few days. i'm so sorry for the next few days. i'm so sorry for the players and i'd like them more tonight than lastjuly. that's all the sport for now. much more on our website, but

captain gareth bale was the driving force in their 2—1 win over austria in cardiff, scoring both walesd a scare to beat turkey 3—1 to set up that play—off final with north macedonia. turkey missed a late penalty with the score at 2—1. and substitute robin quaison scored the winner for sweden in extra time against the czech republic as they won their semifinal 1—0. meanwhile, the england manager gareth southgate says he doesn't see the benefit of boycotting this year's world cup in qatar. but he did confirm that his team are having their own conversations in the camp about what they might be able to do. there is power with us being able to do things together or even with other the european nations or whatever that might look like. there are conversations going on in the background so he will be run us that we are pushing thanks to one side. frankly we're talking more about it than many other things, so i agreed. i think the players have got a good voice and we should allow them to come up with their ideas and if we can support that and help shape that, then we should also do that. lewis

they host austria tomorrow in their play—off semifinal with gareth bale declaring himself fit for thate described as a "little niggle". wales haven't qualified for a world cup since 1958 but manager rob page is confident they have what it takes. from being completely honest, were punching overall weight, we are. we thoroughly deserve to be whereat, we deserve to be playing against holland over the way injune. we deserve to be played against belgium poland, the top teams because we got promoted. we deserve to be in the playoff semifinal of the world cup because the lads have earned that right. were really looking forward to thursday. if wales do win, they will face either scotland or ukraine in the final. that match has been postpone due to russia's invasion of the country, so instead they look ahead their friendly against poland tomorrow at hampden park. before the break, scotland were on a run of six consecutive victories and manager steve clarke says he wants to build on those performances. it isjust a matter of it is just a matter of trying to pick— it is just a matter of trying to

goalkeeper wayne hennessey will captain the side as he wins his 100th cap with the likes of gareth baletch against hungary later. davis is expected to win his 134th cap in the game. the 37—year—old rangers midfielder came off the bench to score in friday's 3—1win over luxembourg. he played just under half an hour in only his second appearance for club or country since january due to injury. it is touch and go for england women's football captain steph houghton to be fit for this summer's european championship. england boss sarina weigman says she will give houghton every opportunity to prove her fitness because of her importance to the side. weigman was speaking ahead of england's world cup qualifiers against northern ireland and north macedonia next month. their euros campaign begins on home soil onjuly the 6th. history she has for the contribution over the years, i would like to give a little bit more time. she has to be fit and playing well and she is been on for a long time and in the september camp, she came in and got injured for the first time since i was in. and since then, she

captain gareth bale was the driving force in their 2—1 win over austria in cardiff, scoring both wales he can win games for you and he steps up to the plate. aaron is the same. aaron ramsey has won games for us before, at home, to get us promoted from b to a. and when you've got big players like that, if there is a chance of them being fit, you play them because you know at any given time they can give a performance like that. portugal made it through with a 3—1 victory over turkey. and sweden's1—nilwin over the czech republic earns them a play—off final against poland. australia's dominance at the women's world cup continued, with victory over bangladesh. that kept their 100 percent record in the group stage in tact. they were given a scare though — chasing 136 to win, australia lost 3 wickets for 4 runs at one stage, but beth mooney hit 66 to help them to a five wicket victory. as group winners, they'll meet the fourth—placed team in the quarterfinals. england's men's bowlers will take to a lively pitch later on friday, for day two of the third and deciding test against west indies i

the likes of gareth bale and aaron ramsey are expected to be rested. stadium for the first time since suffering a cardiac arrest there during last year's euros. the brentford midfielder will captain denmark against serbia in a friendly in the danish capital. he scored with his first touch after coming on as a substitute for denmark in the defeat to the netherlands on saturday. it's something that you can't prepare. i think it's just going to be one of the moments. the reception in holland obviously was very big. and my expectation, of course, it's going to be even bigger here. this is the place where it happened and people will see it, then afterwards people will be talking about it, that everything is back to normal. they're going to have a new memory. yeah, no, it's going to be special. of course it's going to be special, but i'm looking forward to it. what a reception christian eriksen is going to get. $5 what a reception christian eriksen is going to get-— what a reception christian eriksen is going to get. as captain. and he seems calmer— is going

wales' gareth bale has declared himself fit for the play—off semifinal with austria later in their pathry and the fans of wales. we deserve to be in a world cup, it's been a long time but it will be a regret if we don't give it 100% so the main thing is we go out on the pitch and give 100% and don't leave anything in the tank and once you have done that, they will never be any regrets regardless of the result. european champions italy are one of the biggest teams in action — they face north macedonia in their play—off semifinal in palermo later. the italians have some injury problems, though, and are missing at least three of their starting back four. they've had a difficult time in world cups in recent years — italy were knocked out in the group stage both in 2010 and 2014 and failed to qualify for russia in 2018. so the winners of italy v north macedonia will earn a play—off final against portugal or turkey. portugal have some injuries — they'll will be without their two first—choice centre backs. ruben dias has a hamstring problem while pepe is missing after testing positive for covi

wales captain gareth bale has said his critics in spain are "disgusting" for suggesting that he had overplayedfy for the second world cup in a row after defeat in the play—off semifinal last night. just eight months after winning the european championship, they were beaten by north macedonia i-o. afterwards italy manager roberto mancini was reluctant to discuss his future after saying failure to qualify for this year's world cup was the biggest disappointment of his career. england manager gareth southgate says he doesn't see the benefit of boycotting this year's world cup in qatar. the coutries human rights record has provoked some players and teams to speak out in the build up to the tournament and this week, the england team, along with southgate have been having their own conversations in camp about what they can do. there is power in us being able to do something together some other european nations whatever that might look like so there are conversations going on all the time in the background and it would be wrong to sayjust pushing things to one side. we are talking more about it than

gareth bale has led them to the euros and is still this tea's great hope but he has barely played thisr a final. a human being and i am watching the scenes unfold - for a final. a human being and i am watching the scenes unfold and - for a final. a human being and i am. watching the scenes unfold and what is happening in ukraine and russia is happening in ukraine and russia is appalling and that's more important than football match. the good news is we can play the game and we wanted to get it played and we will see what happens after that. it's been 64 years, and wales have watched teams gone by, close. filth. it's been 64 years, and wales have watched teams gone by, close. oh, he has hit the crossbar. _ watched teams gone by, close. oh, he has hit the crossbar. for _ watched teams gone by, close. oh, he has hit the crossbar. for most, - watched teams gone by, close. oh, he has hit the crossbar. for most, the - has hit the crossbar. for most, the memories — has hit the crossbar. for most, the memories of— has hit the crossbar. for most, the memories of 1958 _ has hit the crossbar. for