Wales suffered heartbreak in their first-ever penalty shoot-out as Poland booked their place at Euro 2024 after a goalless 120 minutes.

Spot-kicks were needed on a tense evening in which Ben Davies had a first-half header disallowed for offside but chances were scarce in this play-off final.

Wales were reduced to 10 in the final seconds as Chris Mepham was banished for a second yellow card and Cardiff City Stadium held its breath following an impromptu rendition of the national anthem.

Poland converted five perfect penalties with Robert Lewandowski, Sebastian Szymanski, Przemyslaw Frankowski, Nicola Zalewski and Krzysztof Piątek successful against Danny Ward.

Wales matched them as Ben Davies, Kieffer Moore – via the underside of the crossbar – Harry Wilson and Neco Williams scored.

But Daniel James saw his effort pushed out by Wojciech Szczesny as Wales lost 5-4 on penalties and wild Polish celebrations began.

It was a cruel end for the hosts who had given everything to qualify for a third consecutive European Championship.

Wales had beaten the visitors only once – a maiden meeting in 1974 World Cup qualifying – and suffered seven defeats in 10 games, including six successive losses.

They also had to nullify the threat of Lewandowski with the 35-year-old striker in rich scoring form for Barcelona and seeking to add to his record 82 Poland goals.

Wales made one alteration from Thursday’s 4-1 semi-final thumping of Finland, with Moore replacing David Brooks in the forward line.

Poland were unchanged from the side that put five past Estonia in their Warsaw semi-final but Aston Villa’s Matty Cash was missing from the substitutes’ bench after damaging a hamstring.

South Wales Police had promised a zero-tolerance approach to anyone attempting to take pyrotechnics into Cardiff City Stadium after Poland’s previous visit in September 2022.

But the Polish end was lit up with flares as the two teams gathered for the pre-match anthems.

Poland sought to take the sting out of a fever-pitched atmosphere by frustrating Wales with their ball possession.

Karol Swiderski narrowly failed to get on the end of a Bartosz Slisz cross and Jakub Piotrowski fired over from 25 yards as Poland settled quickly.

Wales’ best moments were from set-pieces: Davies heading over a Wilson corner and Moore planting another chance wide.

Moore also came close to being the beneficiary of Joe Rodon’s flick-on from a Connor Roberts long throw but ran out of room by the byline.

Wales had edged their way back into the contest as the interval approached and had the ball in the net in the final moments of the half.

Moore met Williams’ cross at the far post and Davies guided his knockdown beyond Szczesny in the Poland goal.

The assistant referee’s flag cut short Welsh joy and VAR showed it was a correct call with Davies offside by a matter of inches.

Wales did manage the first on-target effort four minutes after the restart when Szczesny superbly clawed away Moore’s header from under his crossbar.

It looked as if Poland were wobbling but composure was rediscovered and crosses began to be swung into the Wales penalty area with increasing regularity.

Jakub Kiwior cleared the crossbar from six yards and Swiderski sent Piotr Zielinski’s free-kick wide.

The tension was also palpable as Szczesny held headers from Moore and Mepham and Lewandowski almost prevented extra time by fizzing just wide from 25 yards.

Piotrowski and Szymanski had openings in an additional 30 minutes that Poland dominated, but Ward did not have a single save to make in the entire match.

Ben Davies is confident Wales will prevail should they face a first-ever penalty shoot-out in their Euro 2024 play-off final against Poland.

Wales have never felt the tension of spot-kicks to settle matters at full-time, but that would be the deciding factor should Tuesday’s tie in Cardiff finish level after 120 minutes.

Poland have been involved in two shoot-outs, both at Euro 2016 – overcoming Switzerland in the round of 16 before losing to Portugal at the quarter-final stage.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t get there,” Wales captain Davies said about the possibility of penalties at the Cardiff City Stadium.

“We’ve been practising all week. I don’t know what the line-up is, but we seem to have 11 pretty good ones at the moment.”

Wales do have experience of play-off football, however, having taken this route to beat Austria and Ukraine in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.

Gareth Bale was the difference in both games, scoring all three Wales goals in 2-1 and 1-0 victories, but the Dragons must attempt to qualify now without their retired former captain and talisman.

Tottenham defender Davies said: “It’s been a bit of transition having lost Gareth, who brought so much to this squad.

“If we could get there this time it’s a real team effort and we’d be really proud.

“Most of us played in the game where we got the experience of beating Ukraine in the last play-off.

“It was high stress, the game with the biggest stakes on it, and everyone handled themselves well.

“That’s one thing we pride ourselves on. We’ve got discipline, energy and passion, but overall we’re a proper team.”

Davies is one of four survivors from the current squad that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016, alongside Aaron Ramsey, Danny Ward and Wayne Hennessey.

It has been a golden era for Welsh football as reaching Germany this summer would mean qualification for a third consecutive European Championship and a fourth major tournament out of five.

Wales did not qualify for a single major tournament between 1958 and 2016.

Davies said: “Welsh football was in a pretty sticky place before Euro 2016.

“We felt that would be our best chance to qualify and it was important to break down that barrier to show it is possible.

“To show that qualification is there in your hands, and we’ve had players stepping up in big moments over and over. To do it four times is something that I never imagined happening.”

Preston returned to winning ways with a 3-1 victory at struggling Huddersfield.

Skipper Alan Browne and Will Keane gave Ryan Lowe’s side a 2-0 interval lead.

Danny Ward’s first goal of the season hinted at a second-half revival for opponents still hovering just above the drop zone.

But instead, Ben Whiteman’s 66th-minute goal wrapped up a first win in five for the Lancashire outfit and one-time leaders of the division.

It proved a good night too for ex-Terrier Duane Holmes, who claimed two assists on his return to the John Smith’s Stadium to help end Town’s draw-peppered, four-game unbeaten run.

Preston’s recent profligacy in front of goal had contributed to their drop from their lofty early-season position.

But within the opening three minutes Browne fired fractionally wide, had a strong appeal for a penalty rejected and then headed in North End’s first goal in four games – just their second in five.

Holmes crossed from the left and Browne glanced in his third goal of the campaign.

The stunned Terriers almost responded immediately. Delano Burgzorg powered forward but his angled drive could not beat Freddie Woodman at his near post.

A brace of Whiteman blocks protected Woodman from further action while Josh Koroma miscued a right-foot curled effort as the visitors briefly relinquished control.

But normal service was soon restored with North End  bossing possession and then six minutes from half-time deservedly doubling their advantage.

Lively Liam Millar collected the ball just inside the home half and raced towards the area before playing a delicious pass with the outside of his right foot into Keane’s path.

The striker took aim immediately and directed a shot beyond ex-Preston and Blackpool keeper Chris Maxwell for his fifth goal of the campaign and his first since September 2.

Huddersfield fans responded with boos and then again at the break. Boss Darren Moore had also lost patience, taking off Tom Lees, Josh Austerfield and Koroma at half-time and replacing them with Yuta Nakayama, Ben Wiles and Jaheim Headley.

The triple substitution did the trick and nine minutes later Town reduced their deficit. Matty Pearson supplied a cross from the Preston left and Ward, three days after his 33rd birthday, rose unchallenged to open his account for the campaign.

Ward, sidelined for a large part of this season with Achilles trouble, had not scored since a winner against Sheffield United last May to keep his club in the second tier.

It was almost the striker’s last contribution as Brahima Diarra replaced him for the final half hour.

But after looking vulnerable, the Lilywhites confirmed the three points. Millar and Holmes combined to tee-up Whiteman to guide a right-foot shot beyond Maxwell for his second goal of the term.

Ben Davies has urged Wales to summon up the spirit of reaching the World Cup to beat Croatia and keep their European Championship qualification hopes alive.

Turkey’s shock win in Croatia on Thursday night damaged Welsh prospects of claiming a top-two place in Group D.

Wales must now realistically beat top seeds Croatia in Cardiff on Sunday and finish with wins over Armenia and Turkey next month to qualify for Euro 2024.

By doing so, Wales would qualify for a third successive major tournament – two European Championships either side of the 2022 World Cup.

“We know the situation we’re in and it’s definitely going to be challenging,” said Tottenham defender Davies, who will be wearing the Wales armband in the absence of injured captain Aaron Ramsey.

“We’ve shown in the past at Cardiff that against good teams we can win games. It’s the same mentality again that we go into it believing anything’s possible.

“The two World Cup qualifiers (play-offs against Austria and Ukraine) were big pressure moments for this team.

“Arguably people would say they were better sides than us, but we showed that we’re more than capable of making our home in Cardiff a fortress and making it difficult for the opposition.

“We’ve played some of the best teams in Europe there – like Belgium and the Netherlands – and we’ve put good performances in. Playing at home gives us that something special.”

Wales have not beaten Croatia in seven games between the two nations.

There have been three 1-1 draws, including the March meeting in Split when Nathan Broadhead equalised with virtually the last kick of the match to get Wales’ Euro campaign off to a promising start.

Davies said: “They’re a great footballing nation that have had great results over the last 10, 15, 20 years.

“They’re a team stacked with quality players playing at the highest level. We know it’s going to be a hard game, but we believe it’s one we can get something out of.

“It’s a huge opportunity playing at home. If we can get three points, then it will put us in a better situation going into next month.”

Wales warmed up for their Croatia task by sweeping aside friendly opponents Gibraltar 4-0 in Wrexham on Wednesday.

It was Wales’ third consecutive clean sheet following shut-outs against South Korea and Latvia last month, the first time the Dragons have achieved that for nearly three years.

Number one goalkeeper Danny Ward said: “We got back to what we do best in the last camp, being defensively sound.

“That was vital after the summer we had (4-2 and 2-0 defeats to Armenia and Turkey) and we’ve taken that into this camp.”

Ward has yet to play for Leicester this season after losing his first-team place at the Sky Bet Championship club, but the 30-year-old insists that is not an issue while he is on Wales duty.

He said: “It’s different for a goalkeeper as opposed to an outfield player.

“It’s not so much about rhythm, more about bearings, knowing where you are on the pitch, distances, getting up to speed if you like.

“That normally doesn’t take too long for our position thankfully.”

Danny Ward scored the only goal as Huddersfield made certain of their place in the Sky Bet Championship next season with a 1-0 victory over Sheffield United.

The Terriers needed a point to ensure survival and Ward’s second-half effort proved enough as Neil Warnock’s side avoided a final-day relegation battler against Reading, who tumble into League One as a result of Huddersfield’s triumph.

The result caps a remarkable turnaround since Warnock’s appointment at the John Smith’s Stadium in mid-February, with Town losing just one of their last nine league matches including five wins in the last eight.

Victory over Yorkshire rivals United lifted Huddersfield five points above the bottom three, with the final round of fixtures to be played on Monday.

The Blades, who had already secured their return to the Premier League next season, dominated the early stages and penned the hosts in.

Huddersfield shot-stopper Lee Nicholls stood tall to make a great early save and keep out Daniel Jebbison after he raced through on goal in the eighth minute.

Blades striker Jebbison squandered another decent chance to fire the visitors ahead on the half-hour mark as he headed George Baldock’s cross over at the far post.

Warnock’s charges continued to absorb the pressure as United hammered on the door, and at stages in the opening 45 minutes, only keeper Wes Foderingham was in the visitors’ half.

Sander Berge was the next Blades player to have a crack at goal, but his tame effort barely troubled Nicholls.

The hosts were the first to show after the break with their first big chance of the match.

Tom Lees rose highest at the back post to meet Jack Rudoni’s teasing corner but his close-range header was blocked.

United manager Paul Heckingbottom quickly rang the changes as he threw on Oli McBurnie and Billy Sharp up front.

Foderingham pulled off a good stop to parry Josh Koroma’s effort wide after he nutmegged Chris Basham to force his way into the box.

And the pressure told two minutes before the hour as Ward’s crucial stunning strike, a curling left-footed effort from 25 yards which nestled in the bottom corner, fired Town in front.

The goal would have come as a huge blow to any watching Reading fans and Huddersfield came close to extending their lead when David Kasumu hit the side netting after being slipped through by Koroma.

United pushed hard for an equaliser in the closing stages but Warnock’s charges held firm sparking widespread celebrations in the stands.