Dan James lamented, "The loss is too hard to accept; we should have had the last laugh."

At Cardiff City Stadium that night, the Welsh national team lost 2-4 to the Bosnian national team in a penalty shootout, bidding a regretful farewell to the 2026 World Cup.

As the key player who opened the scoring for Wales in this match, winger Dan James could not hide his immense pain at missing out on a World Cup ticket in a post-match interview.

Just six minutes into the second half, James gave Wales the lead with a stunning volley. However, with only four minutes remaining in regulation time, Bosnian veteran Dzeko headed in a goal. Ultimately, in a grueling penalty shootout, Wales repeated their fate of being eliminated in the 2024 European Championship playoffs.

Facing the camera, James bluntly stated that the loss was truly unacceptable. He highly praised the team's performance throughout the game: "I think we played incredibly well tonight."

"Unfortunately, the opponent scored in the final moments, but after extra time, I still firmly believe that we are the team that can win the game."

“I think we were really unlucky not to score the second goal. Hitting the crossbar gave the opponent a chance to breathe and the confidence to try to equalize, and they did take that chance.”

Despite the disappointing result, James was still proud of the fighting spirit shown by the Welsh team: "We've come a long way, which is commendable, but tonight's victory was simply not meant for us."

Image source: Internet