Wales have sealed their place in the playoffs as far as the European section of the World Cup 2022 qualifiers is concerned after Greece lost at home to Spain.

Pablo Sarabia scored a first half penalty to give Spain a 1-0 win over hosts Greece. The Spanish team were given a big chance to break the deadlock when Inigo Martinez was brought down in the Greece box. Sarabia made no mistake from 12 yards out to give the 2010 World Cup winners the lead. It was a well deserved lead for the Spanish team who dominated the first half.

Greece needed to score two goals and win the game against Spain to keep their hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup alive in Group B. To this effect, the Greek team were much improved after restart, but they could not score the goals needed to win the game.

The win over Greece took Spain to the top of Group B ahead of former recipients Sweden who were beaten 2-0 by home team Georgia surprisingly. Spain will seal a place at the World Cup in Qatar next year if they secure a point in their last game against Sweden.

Wales have been able to seal a place in the playoffs asrewardfor winning their UEFA Nations League group. However, they won’t be seeded in the playoffs unless they finish in second place at least in Group E of the European qualifiers ahead of the World Cup finals next year.

The Welsh team knew they had all but sealed a playoff place by winning their Nations League group and it has now been confirmed by the defeat of Greece at the hands of Spain.

For their status in Group E, Wales have it all in their hands if they want to seal second place at least. An automatic qualification is still possible, but highly unlikely with Wales five points off leaders Belgium with two games to play. Only the group winners will seal a place at the Qatar 2022 World Cup finals directly.