Welsh shirt, and managed to keep prolific striker Willy Tröger in check to help secure a 4–1 victory over East Germany at Cardiff. The Czechs won the group and Welsh hopes of World Cup football seemed to be over, however tension in the Middle East came to Wales' rescue. Though before this, the English recorded a thumping 4–0 win at Ninian Park in the 1958 British Home Championship to further depress the Welsh. The reprieve for Wales came as Turkey (now a member of UEFA) refused to compete in the AFC (Asian) qualifying group, and so Israel advanced to the Second Round of CAF / AFC qualifying by default. Egypt and Indonesia both withdrew from the process, whilst Sudan, then the only other team from the region who had entered, refused to recognise Israel, and so also withdrew from the competition. FIFA ruled that Israel could not qualify for the World Cup without kicking a ball, and so a lottery was held for another team to play Israel in a specially created play-off qualification match. Another nation won the lottery, but refused to play as they were too proud to accept such an easy route to the tournament; the Welsh FA had no such qualms, and so Charles and his countrymen only had to overcome a team of amateur Israelis to qualify for the elite competition of international football. Wales duly qualified with two simple 2–0 victories, one in the baking sun at a half completed Ramat Gan Stadium, the other in front of 50,000 rain-soaked Welshmen at Ninian Park; the scores were kept respectable by some heroic goalkeeping from Ya'akov Hodorov. Wales' maiden appearance in the tournament, it was also the only time all four of the Home Nations qualified for the same World Cup, though only Wales and Northern Ireland made it past the group stage. The Welsh FA were pessimistic for their prospects, and before the tournament they arranged for five days of training on some free land at Hyde Park and booked the flights home for before the beginning of the knockout stages. Manager Jimmy Murphy used highly defensive tactics, they would prove highly effective as Wales never conceded more than once in any of their five games in the tournament. Wales remained undefeated in the group stage, battling to draws with Hungary, Mexico, and eventual runners-up Sweden. Wales had played well against the Hungarians but