Our prediction for this World Cup 2026 match:
After sharing the spoils with Czech Republic in Prague, Wales will be aiming to return to winning ways when they take on Estonia at A. Le Coq Arena. Gareth Bale remains on the sidelines through injury, and, in his absence, a man to watch in the away side will be fit-again midfielder Aaron Ramsey. Fulham midfielder Harry Wilson is widely expected to return to the starting XI.
The Estonians, on the other hand, did well to beat Belarus 2-0 in their last group game, with the team climbing to 4th position in the standings. Anyhow, away win should be considered as the former Soviet Republic have slim chances of securing a top-two finish. The bad news for the hosts is that important attacker Henri Anier will have to serve his one-game ban against the Dragons. The two teams played out a goalless draw in Cardiff earlier in the process.
Highlighted Player (Ragnar Klavan):
Ragnar Klavan is a defender who started his senior career at Elva. After playing for Tulevik an Flora between 2002 and 2005, the Estonian footballer joined Heracles Almelo on 4 August, 2005. Klavan made his debut for Heracles five days later and he scored his first goal for the club on 31 December, 2005, in a 2-2 draw with Vitesse.
In 2009 he was sent on loan to AZ Alkmaar and he signed a permanent deal with the Dutch outfit on 4 February, 2009. He played 12 games for AZ in the 2008/2009 season and it has to be noted that the Cheeseheads won the national championship that season. He played for AZ Alkmaar until 2 July, 2012 when he decided to move to Germany.
The Estonian defender signed a two-year deal with Augsburg and he made no less than 125 appearances for the German club between 2012 and 2016. Klavan impressed in the 2015/2016 Bundesliga campaign and, as a result, Liverpool chiefs decided to sign him on 20 July, 2016. He made his Estonia debut on 3 July, 2013 against fellow Baltic side Lithuania.
Highlighted Team (Wales):
Despite being part of the United Kingdom, Wales national football team has been competing in FIFA tournaments since 1950, although they have so far only reached two tournament finals. The Dragons surprised everyone by making it to the quarter-finals at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, but little did they know that it would remain their only World Cup appearance up to date.
Wales had plenty of problems in the European Championship qualifiers as well, but they finally managed to end the barren run by securing their place at the Euro 2016 in France. Led by the likes of Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey, Joe Allen and Ashley Williams, the Dragons performed admirably throughout the campaign and even reached the 8th position in the FIFA Rankings in October 2015.
Neville Southall remains the team’s most capped player, but the generation that included Ryan Giggs, Gary Speed, Craig Bellamy and John Hartson will also be remembered for some impressive performances against top European national teams.