If Jeremiah Azu makes the Olympic 100m final this summer, then he will find inner calm to settle any nerves. On the track, Azu is Wales’ leading all-time sprinter, the first Welsh athlete to run 100m in under 10 seconds and an athlete now bidding to shake off a hamstring injury that forced him out of the current European Championships so he can make the Great Britain squad for Paris.

Josh Sheehan has admitted he will have to put aside his surprise on Thursday evening when he pulls on the captain’s armband for Wales. The Bolton Wanderers midfielder will lead a young and experimental Welsh side in a friendly against Gibraltar in Portugal.

Rob Page has defended his assertion that Wales are in transition after failing to reach Euro 2024. Wales end their season this week by playing Gibraltar and Slovakia, having missed out on a glamour friendly with two-time world champions France.

Wales boss Rob Page intends to “give everything” to qualify for the World Cup and repay the faith of those backing him. The Football Association of Wales quickly announced it would be sticking by Page as manager after the heartbreaking failure to reach Euro 2024.

Former Wales talisman Gareth Bale believes Jude Bellingham would be in a strong position to win the Ballon d’Or by inspiring England to Euro 2024 glory. No Englishman has won the honour as best player in the world since Michael Owen’s success in 2001, but Bellingham’s remarkable impact at Bale’s former club Real Madrid has put him top of the contenders alongside club colleague Vinicius Junior.

Imagine if Gareth Bale – or Jess Fishlock, for that matter – had packed in football at the age of 20 as a full Wales international to take up another sport. Now, consider the reaction if they had not only become an Olympic champion, but also world champion by the time they were still in their 20s.

For 64 years, Terry Medwin was the last Wales player to score at a World Cup. Medwin, who has died at the age of 91, scored the winner in a 2-1 play-off victory over Hungary at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. The goal set up an ultimately unsuccessful quarter-final against eventual champions Brazil – a contest decided by Pele’s first World Cup goal – but Medwin’s place in Welsh football history was secure.

Rob Page has admitted the World Cup in Qatar was an eye-opener that convinced him Wales needed younger, more athletic players if they were to make the Euro 2024 finals. That realisation could pay significant reward on Tuesday night when Wales host Poland in a play-off final at Cardiff City Stadium, with a place in Germany this summer at stake.

Connor Roberts insists he is bristling for a fight against Robert Lewandowski and Poland on Tuesday night. Roberts has embarked on long unbeaten Championship runs at Burnley and Leeds over the last two seasons after putting his razor away and growing a moustache.

Rob Page has pinpointed Dan James as a symbol of why Wales will go into Tuesday night’s Euro 2024 play-off final against Poland with huge confidence. Wales have not beaten the Poles for over 50 years, but are just one more home victory from making their fourth major tournament finals out of the last five.

Rob Page insists Wales need their A-game to eliminate Finland and make the Euro 2024 play-off final. Wales start as clear favourites in Cardiff on Thursday to beat opponents ranked 60th in the world – 31 places below them – and progress to a home play-off final against Estonia or Poland.

Joe Rodon believes Wales can count on their tournament experience against Finland to progress in the Euro 2024 play-offs. Wales are aiming to qualify for a third successive European Championship and a fourth major tournament in five over the next week.