Cymru 2-4 Belgium
- Joe Rodon gave Cymru an early lead
- Kevin De Bruyne scores twice from the penalty spot
- Belgium top qualifying group following win
- Craig Bellamy and Harry Wilson suspended for Liechtenstein match
Cymru’s FIFA World Cup fate lies in the balance after Belgium’s victory at Cardiff City Stadium puts them in pole position for the automatic qualification spot. Cymru have a big November ahead as they can replace North Macedonia in second place in the group to take a play-off spot.
This qualifying match was electric and there was the sense of a big occasion around this match with The Red Wall creating an incredible noise. It was always going to be a tough ask as Belgium’s last defeat came in EURO qualifying in June 2015, when they lost 2-0 to Cymru at Cardiff City Stadium. However, their last World Cup qualifying defeat was a 2-0 loss to Estonia in October 2009.
The atmosphere helped Craig Bellamy’s team to take control of the fixture and they took the lead through Joe Rodon after just eight minutes of the match when he headed in from a free kick.
Cymru’s lead lasted just 10 minutes as Daniel Sierbert, the match referee, was advised to go to the VAR screen to review a handball in the box. As Charles De Ketelaere took a shot, the ball hit Ethan Ampadu’s outstretched arm. Kevin De Bruyne scored from the spot to pull Belgium level.
Moments later, Belgium completely turned the game around when a long ball forward was picked up by Jeremy Doku. After cutting inside, he set up Thomas Meunier to give his team the lead.
Cymru nearly hit back themselves when Jordan James hit a goal-bound effort before the half-time break, but Thibaut Courtois pulled off a wonderful save by diving to his left to push the ball away to safety.
There were even more goals in the second half.
When Cymru lost composure late in the second half, they conceded a second penalty when James handled the ball in the box. Kevin De Bruyne netted his second from the resulting penalty spot to make it 1-3.
Nathan Broadhead came off the bench to give Cymru hope when he scored for 2-3, but Belgium immediately responded through Leandro Trossard to put the game beyond Craig Bellamy’s team once again.
Craig Bellamy will be absent from the touchline in Cymru’s next match against Liechtenstein after he was booked on the sidelines, and Harry Wilson will also be suspended for the visit to Vaduz.
Both will have served their suspensions for the visit of North Macedonia to Cardiff on 18 November.
As it happened
Cymru 2-4 Belgium
