When the final whistle blew at the Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday evening, more than 30,000 Welsh football fans erupted with sheer delight.

Those scenes of pure bliss were repeated in pubs, clubs and living rooms throughout the country.

The Welsh football team had finally exorcised the demons that had dogged them since 1958 – the last time we managed to qualify for a World Cup. The only sour note was that it had to be at the expense of Ukraine who did themselves and their beleaguered nation proud.

Beyond the field of play, Sunday’s game will reverberate for generations to come.

It will undoubtedly inspire a new generation of aspiring footballers and will provide millions of pounds of revenue for the FAW to meet the new demand and grow the game.

The significance of World Cup qualification will not be confined to the sporting arena however. Far from it.

The World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world.

Wales’ participation will do more to boost our international profile than anything else.

A global audience of billions are set to watch the competition in Qatar later this year. As shop windows go, it does not get any bigger than this.

I am also excited about what this tournament will do for the national psyche.

No matter how we do, playing on the biggest stage in sport will inspire and give confidence to fellow Wales supporters.

This confidence coincides with a political coming of age for the nation.

The pandemic opened many people’s eyes up to the fact that Wales is a distinct political entity and does not have to plough the same furrow as a stale and callous Westminster government.

Sports and politics have always mixed and I have a feeling that – just like when Wales hosted the rugby World Cup in 1999 – this event will deliver assurance, determination and spirit for the national mood in abundance.

We really do owe a debt of gratitude to Robert Page, all his players and the back room staff for this incredible boost at a time when we really need it.

Sunday evening was filled with many memorable moments that will be talked about for years.

I have a feeling that the one scene that will linger on for years, for perhaps generations to come, will be after the final whistle when the squad – a broad mix of ages and ethnicity, some Welsh-born and some English-born but proudly Welsh – singing and dancing together with Dafydd Iwan to Yma o Hyd.

We may look back at that precise moment in years to come and pinpoint it as something that was significant in ways we could not comprehend at the time.