It is 57 years since Wales have reached a major competition. A long time I'm sure you'll agree. Since then NASA have been able to put a man on the moon but the FAW has struggled to find a man capable of lifting Wales out of the stratosphere. Well, until now perhaps. Chris Coleman's men can take one small step toward Euro 2016 and one giant leap as a footballing nation tonight if they win in Cyprus. I'm Shane and I'll be taking you through all the action from Nicosia. Excited? Me too.

Victory won't see them progress tonight, but the Group B leaders would, in fact, just need to beat Israel at home on Sunday to guarantee their place in the finals next summer. If they win tonight of course. Indeed, Coleman and his troops are so close to reaching France that they can almost smell the perfume and baguettes from here.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves because Cyprus, as they proven in this campaign, and as they proved in the reverse fixture, are absolutely no mugs. I'd liken them to Argentina in rugby. There's a misconception that they're useless but, actually, they're not half bad you know.

You need only glance at the Group B table - which, incidentally, you can find here - to know that Wales have their work cut out for them. The hosts are third in the standings, two points behind Belgium and five behind tonight's visitors. It's a must-win game for manager Charalampos Christodoulou (a name I can pronounce in real life) and his troops. Don't rule them out. It's a big test for Wales.

Team news? Anyone? Why not. I'll have this very shortly.

CYPRUS XI: Giorgallides; Junior, Demetriou, Antoniades, Laifis; Economides, Charalambides, Makridis, Nikolao; Mytidis, Makris

WALES XI: Hennessey; Gunter, Taylor, Richards, Williams; Davies, Edwards, King, Ramsey; Bale, Robson-Kanu

Right, so we see the usual suspects in Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Hal Robson-Kanu for the visitors in what looks a 5-3-2 system. Coleman is playing it safe. Meanwhile, Nestor Mytidis starts up front for the hosts. He scored a hat-trick in the last game against Andorra!

Shall we have a quick look at both teams' danger men tonight? Why not, and we'll start with Cyprus who, rather ominously, have not one, not two, but THREE serious threats tonight. Georgios Efrem, Demetris Christofi and Mytidis have all netted three times in this qualification campaign, with Christofi particularly dangerous as he also boasts two assists. Efrem and Christofi are on the bench it seems, which is odd.

On to Wales now and, well, there can only be one, can't there? Yep, it's Joe Allen, but he's suspended so they'll have to make do with Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale. We jest. The latter has been the star of Group B thus far with FIVE goals. The Real Madrid man is certainly spearheading this qualification campaign.

DID YOU KNOW? We've already said that Cyprus is a big test, but did you know that Wales lost 3-1 on their last visit here? Yep. James Collins had opened the scoring, but a rousing second-half performance from the hosts saw them dent Wales' bid to reach Euro 2008. They did, however, win their previous visit when Mark Hughes scored the winner in a 1-0 victory way back in 1992 during a World Cup qualifier. None of their five meetings have ended in a draw. #stats

PREDICTION! We're about, hmm, 25 minutes from kickoff. Prediction? Why not. I'm on a 2-1 away win this evening, my friends. Man for man it's not a contest, but even still it'll be tight collectively, but the visitors should - we say should­ - edge it.

Let's explore the realms of Twitter to see if we can't find out what others make of this one.

Phil John is confident, backing a 3-1 victory. Best of luck to him.

Charlton Coleman - husband of Wales boss Chris - is keeping her cards close to her chest.

We're not sure that's permitted Simon Thomas, unless in the probable event he's talking about rugby, in which case that's still probably one too many.

I see Cyprus scoring, but whatever.

Ten minute warning: If you've got Welsh lamb or Glamorgan sausages in the oven then crank that baby up because we won't be waiting for you. Here's what Chris Coleman said about that scenario: "The heat is on, the pressure is on, and this is where you find things out about yourself." Granted he may have been talking about the match as opposed to your dithering in the kitchen, but hurry up in any case!

How are those sausages coming along? You've got five minutes now. The players are already lining up in the tunnel. There's a lot of nervous Welsh people now. I'm Irish, and my country isn't very good, so I'm more envious than nervous.

And here come both players. Talk to me about Gareth Bale's man bun: trendy or not? That's just one of some important questions tonight, including can Wales edge closer to Euro 2016 qualification? We'll find out in just under two hours. Here come the anthems.

KICKOFF! And we're off! Wales get us underway in Nicosia. Let's go.

The men in red boasting plenty of possession early on but no chances to speak of as of yet. Sure we're only three minutes deep. I expect a few goals in this.

Mytidis causes danger in the Wales box, before Ashley Williams, who initially misjudged the flight of the ball, thrashed away for a corner, which came to nothing. Cyprus, as we said, are certainly no mugs.

CLOSE! Welcome to the game Mr Bale. The Real Madrid man skips away from a few challenges and shows his opponents a clean pair of heels, before poking to Ramsey, who cuts inside his man and curls oh so narrowly over the crossbar. Bale had drifted into an unmarked position on the left, but the Arsenal man went it alone.

CHANCE! Oh my word Neil Taylor. Bale fires a free kick at goal from about 30 yards, and the home goalkeeper saves with his feet for some bizarre reason, but Taylor looks certain to smash home but he goes for precision and the keeper makes the save. It could, and definitely should, be 1-0 folks. What a miss.

Worryingly for Wales, Cyprus are coming into the clash a little more in recent minutes. Imagine Wales lose tonight and end up missing out on qualification. How will Taylor feel? Lord only knows. Hopefully that won't happen.

Back to Bale's man bun, because not much has happened recently, and he looks a little like a homeless samurai. He and Ramsey have been Wales' best players tonight though. So far, anyway.

PENALTY APPEAL: Cyprus want a penalty after Mytidis went down in the area under a challenge from Williams, but the referee is having none of it. Rightly so. Nothing in it.

SCARE! Huge from Ashley Williams, who tracks Makris brilliantly as the Cyprus striker looked poised to tap home Mytidis's clever ball. Cyprus haven't come to lie down. They've had some really good moments.

We're 25 minutes deep and Bale has been really quiet. Too quiet, some would say. He embarked on a brilliant run earlier, but he's done little since. Ramsey gone a little quiet now too.

DISALLOWED GOAL! Wales are so, so unlucky here. Bale whips in a fantastic cross and Edwards nods home, but the referee chalks it off for a foul by Hal Robson-Kanu, which just wasn't a foul. Shocking decision that.

What a challenge this is! Robson-Kanu is tackled but he has time to play in Bale, who gallops through on goal but Antoniades slides in and concedes the corner. Stunning tackle.

We've got 13 minutes left in this half, and it's all Wales. It really is. They should be in front - and would be if Taylor had've kept his composure, and the referee had've not ruled out a perfectly legal goal.

Brilliant footwork from Bale as he sets up another counter-attack, but Ramsey's return ball does him no favours as Cyprus cut it out.

Mytidis has been brilliant tonight; one of the best players on the pitch. If Cyprus are going to win anything from this game, it's obvious that Mytidis will play a big, big part in it.

Right, four minutes until the break and it certainly looks as if we'll go into half time all square - unless something crazy happens like, say, the referee allowing a perfectly legal goal to stand. I'm not even Welsh and I'm bitter over that disallowed goal.

CHANCE! Oh no what a chance for Ramsey. Robson-Kanu gallops down the right before pulling back for Ramsey, who opts to take a touch instead of smashing home first time and the ball trickles away from him. Poor from the Arsenal man.

There we have it. Wales, who can go to the brink of qualification with a win, have been frustrated for 45 minutes. They had the best chances - and the only chances, it has to be said - but poor finishing and poor officiating has cost them a half-time lead.

Neil Taylor definitely should have fired them ahead in the first quarter, but the Cyprus stopper denied him, before the referee chalked off what looked a perfectly legal goal when Dave Edwards headed home Gareth Bale's excellent cross. They've been unlucky really.

RESTART! And we're back underway in Cyprus. Big 45 minutes ahead for Wales. Just a reminder that victory for the visitors would see them move ONE win away from Euro 2016.

SHOT! Wayne Hennessey finally forced into a save as he beats away Marios Nikolaou's long-range drive. The Welsh keeper might've done better but he spilled it and went out for a corner, which then came to nothing.

There's a better tempo to this half, as Bale brings Wales forward before firing in a cross, but the keeper takes it comfortably. Both managers are stepping up their attempts to win this game - and another reminder that Cyprus, as it stands, are only five points behind Wales. A home win would make things very interesting.

This is brilliant goalkeeping from Giorgallides, who dares to venture off his line as he looks to beat Robson-Kanu to Bale's inch-perfect pass, and he does, winning the ball and taking the man, but the ball went first.

Worryingly, Cyprus looking dangerous in recent minutes and Williams fortunate not to concede a free kick right on the edge of the box for a foul on Makris.

SHOT! This is better from Cyprus again as Economides fires a left-footed shot just over the bar, but Hennessey had it covered. We said victory was far from a foregone conclusion and it's shaping up like that.

I don't want to worry you Wales fans, but it's all Cyprus. They're bossing this over the last 10 minutes or so, but they're reduced to speculative efforts that won't beat Wayne Hennessey - but they might eventually!

Ramsey races through on goal before slicing horribly wide, but thankfully for him it was offside and the whistle went about 15 minutes ago. (may be an exaggeration).

WALES SUB: Hal Robson-Kanu, who was really quiet tonight, is replaced by Sam Vokes. I'd have started Vokes, but what do I know? I only won the UEFA Cup with Fulham in the 2001-02 edition of Championship Manager. Coleman, oddly enough, was apart of my squad. Good lad he was.

Ok. That's enough messing about, Wales. You've got 20 minutes to crowbar this one open. Only 20 minutes. If I had to guess, though, I'd say we'll finish 0-0. It's about as probable as seeing Miley Cyrus's nipple at some stage over the next two weeks.

Wales slowly but surely coming back into this, but time is running out. It's been a pretty dreadful second half if we're being honest.

CYPRUS SUB: Charalambides makes way for Nikos Englezou as Cyprus freshen things up.

SHOT! What an introduction this would've been by Nikos Englezou, who drags well wide of Hennessey's goal with his left foot. The less said about that the better I think.

CHANCE! Oh my word Wales should be ahead - and it's Ramsey again! Taylor's excellent cut back finds Ramsey, whose first-time shot is straight at the Cyprus keeper and the chance is gone. The Arsenal man will be so disappointed.

Jubilant scenes at the GSP Stadium as Wales finally score to move 1-0 ahead. And who else? It's only Bale, who scores his sixth goal in qualifying - and it's a brilliant goal. Ramsey lofts an excellent cross into the box and Bale leaps in the air, almost Ronaldo-esque to power home a firm header. Excellent, excellent finish.

Brilliant goal from our favourite homeless samurai - but can Wales hold on? Five minutes to go. It's a massive 300 seconds.

Squeaky bum time for the visitors as Cyprus look like they're going to dominate for the last few minutes.

SAVE! Hennessey hasn't had much to do, but he's pulled out a brilliant save here. Wales are getting closer to victory...