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    Cymru vs. Belarus | 2027 European Under-21 Championship – Qualifying competition – Grp9

    Live

        Live ReportMatch Summary

        2. MATCH SUMMARY

          Cymru U21 secured an impressive 2-0 victory over Belarus at Rodney Parade to claim their second win of the UEFA EURO 2027 qualifying campaign and climb off the bottom of Group I.

          Matty Jones’ side started brightly but were given an early warning inside the opening minute when Trofim Melnichenko fired narrowly wide for the visitors. Cymru quickly settled into the contest and began to assert themselves, with Kai Andrews seeing an effort cleared off the line after a strong run down the right.

          The breakthrough arrived on 15 minutes. Cameron Congreve threaded an excellent through ball into the path of Gabriele Biancheri, who showed composure to fire Cymru into the lead. It was a deserved advantage for the hosts, who continued to play with confidence and purpose.

          Belarus remained a threat on the counter-attack, and Kirill Gomanov forced a save from Kit Margetson midway through the half, but Cymru’s defence reacted well to clear the danger. At the other end, Cian Ashford impressed with a driving run before testing the Belarus defence as Cymru pushed for a second.

          That second goal came just before the break. Congreve was again at the heart of the move, delivering a dangerous corner that Archie Harris met with a powerful header to double Cymru’s lead on 41 minutes.

          Cymru carried their momentum into the second half, with Biancheri going close to adding a third soon after the restart, only to be denied by Ivan Shimakovich. Belarus attempted to respond and enjoyed spells of pressure, but Cymru remained organised and resilient at the back.

          As the game progressed, Cymru continued to create chances, with Harris delivering dangerous balls into the box and forcing the Belarus defence into action. Substitute Oliver Bostock was introduced to add fresh energy, while Margetson produced an important save late on to deny Timofei Simanenka and preserve the clean sheet.

          Despite Belarus pushing for a route back into the game, Cymru managed the closing stages well, maintaining control and seeing out the contest.

          The final whistle confirmed a deserved victory for Cymru, whose dominant first-half display laid the foundations for a confident and controlled performance.

        3. FULL-TIME: Goals from Gabriele Biancheri and Archie Harris secure Cymru’s second win of the campaign and moves them off the bottom of group, leapfrogging Belarus in the process.

        4. 90' + 5'

          Yellow card

          Maksim Burko

        5. 90' + 2'

          Yellow card

          ANDREWS Kai

        6. 90'

          5 minutes of added time.

        7. 84'

          Substitution

          AGIUS Calum replaces COTTERILL Joel Leigh

        8. 79'

          Margetson produces a good save to deny Simanenka who runs through the defence to get a shot in.

        9. 78'

          Substitution

          Ilya Dubinets replaces Ruslan Myalkovski

        10. 78'

          Yellow card

          N/A

        11. 78'

          Yellow card

          ANDREWS Kai

        12. 75'

          Substitution

          BOSTOCK Oliver replaces BIANCHERI Gabriele

        13. 74'

          A dangerous cross from Harris forces Lukashov to desperately kick the ball out of play for a Cymru corner.

        14. 70'

          A Belarus attack causes confusion in the box as Margetson comes off his line but fails to collect the ball. Cymru manage to play themselves out of danger.

        15. 68'

          Substitution

          Vasili Chernyavski replaces Evgeni Novykh

        16. 68'

          Substitution

          Vladislav Varaksa replaces Gleb Kuchko

        17. 68'

          Substitution

          Timofei Simanenka replaces Trofim Melnichenko

        18. 63'

          Substitution

          N/A replaces ASHFORD Cian

        19. 62'

          Substitution

          N/A replaces ASHFORD Cian

        20. 56'

          More fantastic play by Congreve down Cymru’s right sees him send a pinpoint cross to Biancheri who is hovering around the penalty area. As the ball comes into his feet, he quickly takes the opportunity to get a shot off. Shimakovich saves to deny Cymru a third goal.

        21. 53'

          Substitution

          Artur Nazarenko replaces Artem Turich

        22. 52'

          A dangerous corner from Dushevski is put behind for an another corner at the far post.

        23. 52'

          Belarus are attempting push Cymru more here in order to find a way back into this match.

        24. 46'

          Belarus get the second half underway here at Rodney Parade.

        26. HALF-TIME SUMMARY

          Cymru took control in the first half, creating early chances before Gabriele Biancheri fired them ahead on 15 minutes. Matty Jones’ team grew in confidence, playing fluid attacking football, and doubled their lead through Archie Harris’ header from a corner on 41 minutes to go into the break firmly in command.

        27. 45'

          1 minute of added time.

        28. 41'

          Goal

          HARRIS Archie

        29. 41'

          Congraeve takes the corner and Harris doubles Cymru’s lead as he scores with a header. Cymru are good for their lead here.

        30. 40'

          Cymru are playing some lovely football with good linked up play as they force Belarus into conceding a corner.

        31. 37'

          Melnichenko sees his shot blocked before Dushevski’s follow-up strike is also denied by the Welsh defence.

        32. 29'

          Ashford picks up possession and sets off on a mazy run up the righthand side of the pitch. He cuts inside to strike but his shot is booked. That’s some lovely play.

        33. Biancheri celebrates the goal that gives Cymru a 1-0 lead.

        35. 23'

          Gomanov goes close for Belarus as his strike is saved by Margetson but the Cymru keeper spills the ball. Between Margetson and the Cymru defence, they manage to clean everything up.

        36. 15'

          Goal

          BIANCHERI Gabriele

        37. 15'

          GÔÔÔL! Congreve plays the ball through for Biancheri, who fires Cymru ahead.

        38. 14'

          Cymru give away possession in the middle of the pitch and with Margetson off his line, Tsepenkov takes a long range shot for Belarus. There’s no accuracy on his shot, which goes well off target. The opportunity was there though.

        39. The starting XI 📸

        40. 8'

          Andrews goes on a run up the right wing, cuts inside to run between defenders. At a tight angle he strikes at goal but his shot is cleared off the line. This is better from Cymru.

        41. 1'

          Early danger for Cymru as Melnichenko goes close for Belarus but he sends his shot wide of Margetson’s right post.

        42. 1'

          Cymru get the game underway here at Rodney Parade.

        43. '

          Substitution

          Artur Nazarenko replaces Artem Turich

        45. Kit Margetson starts in goal for Cymru.

        46. Cymru manager, Matty Jones, speaks to the media ahead of kick off.

        48. This is how the Cymru U21’s will line-up this evening.

        50. DIWRNOD Y GÊM 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇧🇾

          Continuing our qualifying campaign against Belarus in Newport 👊

        51. MD-1 TRAINING ✅

          Cymru welcomed local school children to training at Dragon Park on Thursday afternoon.

        52. Final preparations 💪

        53. COTTERILL ENJOYING CYMRU LEADERSHIP ROLE

          Joel Cotterill has admitted he is relishing his leadership role with Cymru U21 and believes the squad’s togetherness will be key to a successful second half of their UEFA EURO qualifying campaign.

          Cotterill, currently on loan at Dundee Football Club from Swansea City, is one of the most experienced players at under-21 level. He has embraced the responsibility of wearing the armband—something he feels has always come naturally to him.

          “I definitely enjoy it,” he admitted. “Having the armband is a privilege, no matter what age you’re playing at. It’s my job to lead the group, but it’s a role for us all if we’re to be successful as a team. Growing up, I believe I’ve always been a leader and had those qualities. It’s about continuing to do that and continuing to drive standards amongst the team, both on and off the pitch. We’ve got two tough games coming up and we need everybody ready if we’re to do well.”

          Cymru return to action against Belarus on Friday night, looking to respond after a difficult result in the reverse fixture. Cotterill expects another stern test but insists the squad are better prepared this time around after learning from their previous meeting.

          “They’re a very aggressive side, a direct team, and very good at what they do,” he said. “Looking back, we probably didn’t expect them to be as good at what they do as they were, but we’re now ready to face what’s to come again. This week we’ve revisited our learnings from the opening fixture and we are all looking to right the wrongs on Friday night. We need to be at it and at our best to get back to winning ways. We know we’ve got the quality in the group – we’ve just got to show it.”

        55. CALIUM AGIUS ENJOYING LIFE WITH CYMRU

          Calum Agius says he is enjoying life with Cymru U21 as his side prepare to face Belarus on Friday night.

          Agius made his debut for Matty Jones’ side in March last year and has since gone on to make four appearances for the team.

          “I’ve feeling really well settled, it’s a great group of lads to be a part of,” he said. “There’s so many talented players in this group and we’ve continued to build since the start of the campaign.

          “Since I’ve come into the Wales set-up I’ve targeted a starting place and fortunately I’ve done that in the last two qualifying games. I’m really enjoying my football at the moment and I’m looking to continue that until the end of the season.”

          Cymru fell to defeat against Belarus last time out, suffering a 3-0 loss in Georgia. Agius believes the squad have learned valuable lessons from that result and are confident of starting the second half of the campaign on the right foot.

          “It was a tough game but we’ve learned a lot and those are the things we’ve worked on and address this week,” he admitted. “We are confident we can have a positive result and build momentum going into this double header.

          “We’ve had a good week of training and the mood in the camp is really good. It’s good to be back home in front of the fans on Friday and we want to put a show on for them. We’ve been really well supported at home in the campaign so far and we want to see that continue.”

        57. DIWEDDARIAD CARFAN 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

          Harry Ashfield has been called up to the Cymru U21 squad ahead of their upcoming EURO qualifiers.

        59. PREPERATIONS UNDERWAY 🔋⚡️

          Cymru began their preparations for Belarus at Dragon Park on Monday afternoon. Get your tickets here.

        60. BACK ON CAMP 😀

        61. OPPOSITION LOWDOWN | BELARUS

          Vitaliy Pavlov is the current head coach of the Belarus U21 national team. Having transitioned from his playing career into coaching, Pavlov has held various roles in Belarusian football, including assistant and head-coaching positions at clubs such as Belshina Bobruisk and SFK Slutsk, before taking over the U21 national team in early 2025.

          Throughout his managerial career, he is noted for preferring a 4‑1‑4‑1 formation and holds a UEFA Pro coaching licence. Since taking charge of the Belarus U21s, Pavlov has record just one competitive win – that against Cymru in November – but he did lead his team to a commendable 1‑1 draw against top seeds Denmark in EURO qualifying.

        62. THE TABLE AS IT STANDS

          Here is how Group I stands as Cymru go into their first EURO qualifier of the new year. Cymru are four points behind group leaders Austria who they defeated 2-0 away from home back in October.

        63. JONES ON CYMRU SQUAD RETURNS

          George Nevett, Alex Williams and Evan Watts all return to the 23-player squad together with Rhys Thomas following his recovery from an injury that has kept him out of contention since last June.

          “There’s a constant evolution of this squad and there’s constantly been movement to provides an opportunity for the high-potential players,” said Jones. “We’ve got super talent right throughout the age groups and this provide a wonderful opportunity for people to come in and impress both on and off the pitch. There’s an excitement about getting to work with the players and rectify and repair from November.

          “The biggest thing for us is that we’ve had time to reflect and be the best prepared we can be going into this window. We’ve got numerous players now playing and sustaining their positions in first team environments at their clubs, which is a must for us as a national team. I’ve been watching that closely through the monitoring of our players.”

        65. JONES TARGETS MAIDEN BELARUS VICTORY

          Matty Jones has called on his squad to claim a first-ever victory against Belarus and get their qualification campaign back on track as the two nations prepare to meet again.

          “You know, we’ve never beaten Belarus in an U21 fixture, ever,” explained Jones to FAW.cymru. “If that’s not enough motivation then I don’t know what is. That’s definitely my carrot and that’s what I’ll be dangling in front of the players as we’ve got an opportunity to rectify that in this window.

          “The key is to try and expose their weaknesses and take advantage of them, and that’s something we didn’t do last time. We weren’t clinical enough. We had opportunities early in the game, but then as the game grew, we found it hard to break them down. They defended for their lives and made it really, really difficult. Now we’re playing the same opponent at home, so the onus is of course with us.”

        66. SQUAD ANNOUCEMENT

          Matty Jones has announced his 23-player Cymru squad for the upcoming UEFA U21 EURO 2027 qualifiers against Belarus and Denmark in Group I.

          In the squad, there are welcome returns for George Nevett, Alex Williams and Evan Watts, as well as Rhys Thomas, who returns to the Cymru set-up for the first time since June after recovering from injury.

          There are also first call-ups for Oliver Bostock, Elliot Myles, and defender Aled Thomas, who recently signed his first professional contract with Everton last summer.

          Uncapped goalkeepers Kit Margetson and Luke Armstrong are also included, alongside experienced players Cian Ashford, Kai Andrews, Charlie Crew and Joel Cotterill.

        67. There is no live report available for this match

        Lineups

        Starting

          Substitutes

            Starting

              Substitutes

                Table

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                Match Info

                Stadium

                Date & Time

                Referee

                Fourth Official

                Assistant Referees

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