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This game is one of six (European) World Cup qualifiers going on this evening. The other five are as follows:
Estonia vs Norway
Italy v Moldova
Faroe Islands v Gibraltar
Croatia v Czechia
Kazakhstan 0-1 North Macedonia
You will note that North Macedonia earlier beat Kazakhstan through a Aleksandar Trajkovski strike and now top the standings in Group J, Belgium and Wales’ group. This is how things stand, before kick-off here.
Joe Morrell, currently without a club, aged 28 and who played for Wales at the last World Cup, isn’t featuring tonight. But this was still an excellent interview last week with the Welsh midfielder.
One potential mis-match for Wales is at left back. Ben Davies is about as dependable as they come but should the lightning quick Jérémy Doku drift out to Belgium’s right wing, he might be able to breeze straight past the veteran defender, who is more accustomed to playing centre back these days. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Doku and Leandro Trossard swap wings for Belgium as the game goes on.
Daniel James is a big miss for Wales, out through illness. His pace would have caused Belgium a lot of problems on the counter-attack and fitted in nicely with Bellamy’s gameplan.
Let’s unpack those teams a little.
Belgium make two changes from the side that were disappointing held by North Macedonia at the weekend. Aston Villa duo André Onana and Youri Tielemans come into the midfield for Rangers’ Nicolas Raskin and Hans Vanaken, which should give them more balance in the middle. Leandro Trossard also gets a start, having not featured at all from the bench in Skopje.
Perhaps not surprisingly against stronger opposition, Bellamy favours a more mobile, faster, counter-attacking side. So Kiefer Moore drops to the bench, with Brennan Johnson pushed forward to striker. Wales will play five at the back, with wing backs Ben Davies and Connor Roberts providing width alongside wingers David Brooks and Sorba Thomas. Central midfield is rather lightweight, with Jordan James and Harry Wilson, but there is plenty of technical ability in there, too.
The teams!
Belgium: Sels, Meunier, Faes, Debast, De Cuyper, Tielemans, Onana, Trossard, De Bruyne, Doku, Lukaku.
Subs: Vandevoordt, Lammens, Theate, Openda, Lukebakio, De Winter, De Ketelaere, Mechele, Moreira, Vanaken, Raskin, Saelemaekers.
Wales: Darlow, Roberts, Mepham, Ampadu, Rodon, Ben Davies, Brooks, Jordan James, Wilson, Thomas, Johnson.
Subs: Ward, Adam Davies, Dasilva, Matondo, Cullen, Moore, Kpakio, Cabango, Harris, Koumas, Sheehan, Broadhead.
Referee: Irfan Peljto (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Preamble
If Wales are to qualify for the men’s World Cup for just the third time in their history, getting something from this crucial qualifier will likely be a huge reason why. Despite a poor start to Belgium’s campaign – a 1-1 draw with North Macedonia, their only game to date – Rudi Garcia’s side are the overwhelming favourites to top Group J and claim the only automatic qualification spot. In a group also containing Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein, can a team that contains Kevin De Bruyne, Youri Tielemans, Romelu Lukaku and Jérémy Doku really manage to mess this up? Wales will be hoping the answer is yes.
Craig Bellamy’s side have made a good start to their campaign, drawing away at North Macedonia and beating Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein. A draw or a win in Brussels tonight would be an epic achievement but not completely off the cards. It has happened before and it can happen again, the spirit of Hal Robson-Kanu in 2016 looms large.
Kick-off: 7.45pm BST.
