Wales' 2022 World Cup play-off confirmed as Spain beat Greece 1-0

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Pablo Sarabia (L), scored in Athens from the penalty spot to win Spain's first-half victory.

After Spain's 1-0 win over Greece, Wales have been officially guaranteed at least one place in the World Cup Play-Offs.

Wales began their qualifying campaign knowing that they had already secured a spot in the play-offs after winning their Nations League group.

Even if Wales finishes outside the top two of their qualifying group, Spain's victory in Athens officially seals it.

To be eligible for the March play-offs, Wales must finish in second place.

Unseeded teams who reach the Nations League play-offs are not eligible and will go away in the semi-final to be seeded.

Wales can secure a top-two finish by collecting four points from their last two qualifiers at home in Belarus on Saturday and Belgium Tuesday.

The possibility of Wales qualifying automatically is possible - they are currently five points behind Group E leaders Belgium, with two games left - but they would need to lose to Estonia and Rob Page's men at Cardiff.

If Wales defeats Belarus and Belgium loses to Belgium, and Estonia beats the Czech Republic in their last game, the goal difference would determine the play-off spot. The Czechs currently lead this metric by two.

Even if Wales finishes outside the top 2, they have a guaranteed play-off spot.

Spain's win, which was secured by Pablo Sarabia’s goal, means that they will need to score a point in their match against Sweden at the weekend to be guaranteed a spot at next year's World Cup finals.

Sweden led Group B going into these final two games, but a shocking 2-0 loss to Georgia earlier in the week has given Spain the lead.

How did Spain confirm Wales' playoff spot?

Wales is the fifth-ranked Nations League side. Two play-off spots are available to the highest ranked teams that do not place in the top two qualifying groups.

Belgium and Italy were already guaranteed top-two places in their respective groups. France and Spain were the only two countries that could be beaten by Wales.

Spain managed to avoid defeat against Greece on Thursday and secured at least a second place finish in Group B. This means that Wales will be guaranteed a place in the play-offs regardless of what happens in their qualifying groups.

This is significant for Wales who have not participated in a World Cup tournament since 1958 when they qualified through play-offs.