WALES are two games away from ending a 64-year hiatus from World Cup qualifying, but they have to first take care of an Austria side who have been handed a chance of redemption.
Rob Page's men need to beat the Austrians and then have home advantage too for the final against Scotland or Ukraine in June to reach their first World Cup since they reached the quarter-finals in 1958 in Sweden.
They should be full of confidence too. Only World No.1 side Belgium beat them in their qualifiers and you need to go back to November 2018 for the last time they lost a competitive match at home and that was to Denmark in the Nations League.
They have Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsay available and the duo always seem to reserve their best performances for playing for their country.
Austria went further than they have ever gone at the Euros, but flopped spectacularly in their group, finishing in a dismal fourth place, seven points behind Scotland with even Israel above them.
Yet there's a sense they are better than that disastrous qualifying campaign suggests and their squad is packed with top Bundesliga talent as well as David Alaba of Real Madrid and Marko Arnautovic from Bologna.
How the bookies view it
Austria are quite surprisingly favourites, albeit narrowly with Unibet going for 37/20. SBK's 2/1 for a win for the Welsh is the best price available. The draw is 21/10 with BetVictor.
To qualify, Austria are 10/11 with bet365 and Wales are evens with Paddy Power, which gives you an idea how tight the layers think it will be.
Recent head to heads
Austria are ahead 5-3 overall, but Wales won the last meeting in 2017 1-0 thanks to a goal from current Hearts striker Ben Woodburn, as can be seen below.
Players to watch
That man Gareth Bale is the chap for the big occasion and he would love nothing better than to play at a World Cup Finals with Wales. He's on 100 caps not out and has scored 36 goals. He will shrug off illness with Real Madrid to play here and is 7/4 with bet365 to score in Cardiff.
Marko Arnautovic missed a chunk of Austria's qualifying campaign which didn't help their cause. He's a real threat and has nine goals this season in Serie A for Bologna. He is 11/4 with bet365 to score.
Anything else catch the eye?
Wales do look good value to win and they will have plenty of support, but it would be foolish to write Austria off despite a car crash of a campaign.
There's a reason bookies make them slight favourites and Wales are very reliant on Bale and Ramsay – neither of which have a lot of football under their belts this season.
It could well be this could be a cagey encounter with extra time being the sensible call. In fact, this could go all the way to penalties at 4/1 with bet365.
If it is to be decided in 90 minutes, there is unlikely to be a goal feast with tensions high and neither side willing to take too many chances. Try under 1.5 goals at 7/4 with bet365.
This World Cup match between Wales and Austria will be played on Mar 24, 2022 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Wales vs Austria prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
you tip Draw and under 1.5 ??
0-0 correct score then recommended ??
7-1 at bet victor 🏴