Wales v Belgium live: Craig Bellamy’s side beaten in blow to automatic World Cup qualification hopes
Wales 2-4 Belgium: Kevin De Bruyne’s penalty double helped down Wales in a damning blow to their hopes of automatic qualification
Wales have been dealt a mammoth blow to their hopes of automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup as they succumbed to a home defeat at the hands of Belgium.
The hosts got off to the perfect start, with Joe Rodon’s eighth-minute header seeing Craig Bellamy’s side capitalise on early pressure in Cardiff. However, Belgium flipped the game on its head before the half-hour mark, with Kevin De Bruyne levelling from the spot before Thomas Meunier fired into the top corner to complete the turnaround.
The visitors added to their lead after the break through another De Bruyne penalty, and while Nathan Broadhead instilled late hope with his 89th-minute finish, Leandro Trossard quickly put dreams of a fightback to bed just a minute later.
It leaves Craig Bellamy’s side with only a glimmer of hope when it comes to topping their qualification group, meaning it will likely be through the perilous play-offs if Wales are to compete in next summer’s World Cup finals.
Relive all the action from the Cardiff City Stadium below:
Kevin De Bruyne double sinks Wales as Belgium take control of World Cup group
Wales’ hopes of automatic World Cup qualification were dealt a blow as Kevin De Bruyne converted two penalties in Belgium’s 4-2 win in Cardiff.
On a crazy night, when second-half Wales substitute Brennan Johnson had to shoo a rat off the pitch, Belgium recovered from an early deficit to take control of Group J.
Full report:
Kevin De Bruyne double sinks Wales as Belgium take control of World Cup group
Ben Davies speaks on winning his 100th cap
While he did come off injured and the result didn’t go their way, there was still a tinge of brightness to Ben Davies’ outing tonight. He joined the Wales 100 club.
"It was really special [to get a hundred caps], and I'm sure with time I'll look back on it with really fond memories, but right now it's about the tough result at the moment,” he told BBC Sport.
Craig Bellamy left baffled by penalty decision
"I'm definitely proud of the players,” Bellamy told BBC Sport. “What we were looking to do we were exceptional at.
"It's not great because we've lost. We had momentum but the penalty gave them a lift and even the crowd died down.
"That's three penalties we've conceded against Belgium. We've scored five goals against them but not got a point, so that's hard to take.
"I have no complaints about the second [penalty]. But the first? What are we supposed to do with our hands?
"This is not sour grapes and congratulations to Belgium, but we've conceded four penalties from handballs.
"We didn't deserve it at that time. We had to react but they reacted better in that period."
Ben Davies says the 'dice didn't roll in our favour'
"It was a frustrating game, we started well, created a lot of chances, and it felt like a harsh penalty on the pitch,” he said. “It was one of those games where the dice didn't roll in our favour.
"I'm proud of the boys, we got Belgium to show us a lot of respect and to sit back and play on the counter-attack against us, and that doesn't happen too often. Their game plan worked tonight, and it's an other big learning curve for a young group."
Harry Wilson: We 'never recovered' from penalty shock
"It was really disappointing,” Wilson told BBC Sport. “Belgium's result against North Macedonia really gave us confidence because it was back in our hands and we wanted to put in a really good performance.
"We started really well, we wanted to be on the front foot, try and press them high and create chances and we managed to get the early goal through Joe.
"I've not seen the penalty back but it looked a bit harsh to me; Ethan was just moving side to side and it struck his hand.
"Maybe that's unfortunate but we have to defend the second goal better. We got from a positive start to being 2-1 down and it knocks the stuffing out of us.
"Another penalty when we're looking to get back in the game is disappointing and then we get ourselves back in it with a few minutes and concede from kick-off.
"We wanted it to be a special night under the lights. The penalty popped the bubble a bit and it didn't feel like we recovered from there."
How things stand in Group J
With North Macedonia and Kazakhstan drawing in Skopje, tonight’s result leaves Belgium top with a game in hand.
Wales - also with an extra game to play - are in third, three points behind North Macedonia.
With Belgium in control of the group, Wales look set to fight with North Macedonia for that play-off spot. The two nations clash on the final qualifying matchday in November.
Ethan Ampadu pleads for Wales to 'pick themselves back up'
"We can take some positives from what happened out there but the result isn't what we wanted,” he told BBC Sport.
"We're disappointed with the goals. Against a good team they were cheap goals to give away.
"You go through disappointments, you go through hard defeats and tough results, but we've got to pick ourselves up. We're going to do that.
"There's a gap now as we go back to our club teams, but when we come back, the pride of playing for Wales comes through."
James will 'regret' penalty incident, says Williams
Former Wales defender Ashley Williams feels Jordan James will regret the penalty incident that saw him lean into the ball and fall foul of a handball in the second half.
“I think it's natural instinct,” he told BBC Sport. “It seems so obviously stupid now but when the ball is there and you're frustrated you will try and stop it.
“The moment it hits his arm he will have regretted it straight away.”
Wales dealt major blow to hopes of automatic World Cup qualfication
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