The goals which crushed Wales came desperately late and left Gareth Bale standing on the pitch, hands on hips, face crimson with effort, bewildered by a situation from which even he could provide no rescue. But it had been coming.

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For once, a golden generation of players who have helped this nation to touch the heights could not provide the alchemy. So now it is Iran, beset by national catastrophe and annihilated by England four days ago, contemplating the knock-out stages for the first time in their history.

Mathematically, Wales are just about still here, though it is over. They require the USA to beat England and Iran and will also need to beat an English side which has just thumped Iran 6-2. The loss of Wayne Hennessey to a red card was only the beginning of a calamity, as Rouzbeh Chesmi and Ramin Rezaeian scored in the 92nd and 98th minute.

It had all seemed so different as Wales set out and the anthems told contrasting stories of two nations. The band played Wales' too fast but the vast Red Wall set their own tempo all the same. Iranian supporters wept as theirs was played – with grief, it seemed - and the white-shirted players looked like they were going through the motions of mumbling the words.

Even the light warm-up left Bale red-faced with effort at the end of a week in which the hotel golf simulator had been too much for his back.

What transpired then laid bare how the two jewels of this Welsh generation – he and Aaron Ramsey – are two men now raging against the dying of the light. They were bystanders, exchanging words occasionally. Totemic individuals for whom the others operated like worker bees to carve out a sliver of opportunity for them to demonstrate their genius.

Bale, not so isolated as against the USA, drove down the byline to win a free-kick, in a position of jeopardy with the big Kieffer Moore in the six-yard box. But this was a pale imitation of the glorious summer of 2016 when those two gladiators took this nation to such incredible places.

The workers' contribution around them was certainly not negligible in the first half.

The reinstatement of Kieffer Moore, target man and central focus, made an immediate difference. He had looked tense in the tunnel, touching the wall before he walked out last. But Nathan Ampadu, the man with the monumental and unenviable task of anchoring midfield while Ramsey roamed freely, had lifted two balls to him in the first 90 seconds alone.

For 45 minutes, Wales broke the defensive lines in a way that had not done four days ago. They worked the diagonal, drilling 30-yard passes, wing-to-wing. They might have taken a lead, had Neco Williams not squandered the chance when Harry Wilson located him in space on the left side of the Iranian box. A very big moment.

But though Wales' 64 per cent first half possession suggested domination, it was anything but. Lacking anyone to anchor midfield adequately, there was an enormous vulnerability to the team, every time