Ben Fisher was in Brussels, and his report is here for your edification. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
Kevin De Bruyne talks to S4C, and isn’t particularly impressed with the suggestion that Wales made Belgium defend a lot during the second half. “I think we fully deserved to win. The first half we fully dominated, created a lot of chances. The second half we started badly. The only thing from our side is that we had to keep the ball, Wales were so deep, we had to wait for the right moment. That was the only thing that could have got better, but I never had the feeling that Wales were going to press us. I saw two chances for Wales, I don’t know what everyone else saw, but it is what it is.” As for the overturned penalty decision? “I was already running to the corner, but even then the rules are so stupid, because it was just a normal corner [and not a drop ball].”
Brennan Johnson talks to S4C: “It was a game of two halves. In the first, we lacked a lot of belief, we didn’t know how good we could be on this night, and especially what we could bring going forward. We didn’t show any of that. In the second half we came out with a different mentality and did ourselves proud. Rob Page told us to believe ourselves, to show why we’re here, and I think we did that. Poland is a massive game to stay in this league. It’ll be a really big game and we’ll all be ready for it.”
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The other result in Group A4: Poland 0-2 Netherlands. Goals from Cody Gakpo and Steven Bergwijn have given the Dutch all three points in Warsaw. They remain top of the group with 13 points, three clear of Belgium on 10. Wales are still bottom with just the one point, but they’re only three behind the Poles, who visit Cardiff on Sunday. They’re not down and out yet.
FULL TIME: Belgium 2-1 Wales
The whistle sounds on a deserved victory for Belgium … but Wales will be very happy with their second-half performance. They’d been given the runaround in the first half, but stood firm in the second, and could easily have snatched a draw.
90 min +6: … but the long ball goes straight down Courtois’ throat.
90 min +5: Martinez swans down the tunnel wearing a wry smile. If nothing else, from the stand, he’ll have a good look at Williams launching a Hail Mary from the halfway line …
90 min +4: Mertens finally takes it. Wales clear and launch a counter through Johnson down the right. Meunier comes across with a crunch tackle, just as it looks like Johnson would sprint clear. On the touchline, Roberto Martinez deliberately throws the ball away to waste time, and is sent off!
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90 min +3: Trossard wins a corner down the left. Mertens is in no rush to take it.
90 min +2: De Bruyne, amazing in the first half, not so eye-catching in the second, makes way for De Ketelaere.
90 min +1: Meunier has a dig from distance. Always wide right, always high.
90 min: Johnson makes good down the right again, like he did for the Welsh goal. His fierce cross is tipped away from the danger zone by Courtois. Wales are pushing for a sensational equaliser, and they’ll have another six minutes in which to find one!
89 min: Bale shimmies down the left and backheels for Williams, who sends a powerful low fizzer towards goal. Courtois parries well and the hosts clear their lines.
88 min: Trossard runs at Wales again and lays off for Vanaken, who slips a pass down the left for Mertens. He shapes a curler towards the top right … but it’s always curling the wrong way. Well wide.
86 min: Mertens whips a cross in from the left. Mepham, bravely sliding to block, takes one in the swingers. After taking a few deep breaths and an inventory, he’s back up and running.
85 min: Williams crosses from the left. Connor Roberts cushions a header down at the far stick. Johnson drags a shot wide left from 12 yards. Had that been on target, tucked into the corner, Courtois was never getting it. Not a gilt-edged chance, but a chance nonetheless.
84 min: Tyler Roberts comes on for Norrington-Davies, as Wales opt to go for it with time running out.
83 min: The home crowd weren’t too happy with the overturned decision, as you’d imagine. Now they’ve howled themselves out, it’s the Welsh travelling support making the most noise.
81 min: Good old VAR, huh. That was a ridiculous penalty decision. We play on.
VAR: No penalty!
79 min: VAR has a look, and justice is done. Morrell clearly toed the ball out of play, and De Bruyne then went over his outstretched leg. It’ll be a drop ball, and not a corner, while it turns out Bale was booked for arguing the toss. Surely that will be rescinded. Morrell’s yellow too, else he’ll miss the Poland game.
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Penalty for Belgium!
77 min: Belgium ping it around patiently. Suddenly Meunier rolls a pass down the right for De Bruyne, who strides into the box. Morrell sticks out a toe and pokes out for a corner. De Bruyne goes over, the referee points to the spot, and Wales are incensed! Morrell is also booked.
76 min: Tielemans makes way for Vanaken.
75 min: For the second time in as many minutes, Trossard embarks on a dangerous dribble down the middle of the park. The Brighton midfielder has been lively since coming on.
73 min: Johnson tears towards the Belgian box and slips James into space on his right. James one-twos with Morrell and dinks to the far post, where Vertonghen is forced to head behind for a corner. Nothing comes of the set piece, but Wales are asking a few questions now.
71 min: Free kick for Belgium out on the left. De Bruyne takes. Wales deal with it easily. The hosts haven’t been half as dangerous in this second half. All credit to Wales for making a match of this.
69 min: James curls a cross in from the left. Bale gets in ahead of Alderweireld and heads goalwards. The ball flicks off the defender and out for a corner, at which James showcases his slapstick skills, slipping over onto all fours under no pressure, then getting up to needlessly barge Openda, shepherding the loose ball out of play, to the floor from behind. Goal kick.
67 min: The presence of Meunier down the right forces Williams into conceding a corner. De Bruyne curls it in. Alderweireld slaps a sidefoot way over the bar.
66 min: Belgium respond with a triple change. Batshuayi, Hazard and Carrasco are replaced by Openda, Mertens and Trossard.
65 min: Wales make a double change. Off go Moore and Smith, on come Morrell and – to loud cheers of appreciation – Bale.
63 min: Belgium stroke the ball around awhile.
61 min: De Bruyne takes the free kick. It’s an over-elaborate training-ground routine that ends with Tielemans taking a long-distance potshot that’s deflected out for a corner. Nothing comes of it.
60 min: Some pre-free-kick faffing, as Moore goes down to get the physio to take a look at his arm. Ian Burch helps us to kill some time: “Batshuayi now finally free from the graveyard of strikers which is Stamford Bridge where in truth he wasted six years of his life as well as ours. Hapless in front of goal, frequently offside and short of confidence, he looked every inch a Chelsea centre forward. He’ll be remembered for his title-clinching goal late on at West Brom, but even then he managed to upset the travelling support by running to the wrong corner of the ground to celebrate, well his sense of direction was never very good. He’ll never been forgiven for doing that.”
58 min: Hazard dribbles down the middle of the park with purpose, and is hauled back by Ampadu. Another booking, and another player who’ll miss the Poland game on Sunday.
56 min: Belgium ping a few triangles. Vertonghen fires a low cross into the six-yard box from the left. Ampadu is on hand to hook clear.
54 min: De Bruyne makes ground down the right and chips into the Welsh box. Some head tennis. Wales are defending desperately when Meunier bumbles onto the scene and witlessly clatters Apmadu on the edge of the box. A completely pointless challenge. The pressure on Wales released.
53 min: Belgium will be wondering how they’re just a goal ahead. But here we suddenly are. The hosts attempt to rediscover their equilibrium with some patient midfield passing.
52 min: That was a superb run by Johnson, who is a prospect all right. Moore could hardly miss, so good was the cross, though take nothing away from a perfectly placed header.
GOAL! Belgium 2-1 Wales (Moore 50)
Now then! Now then! Johnson dribbles down the right. He takes on both Witzel and Carrasco, dropping a shoulder to advance towards the byline. He stands one up to the far post, where Moore rises highest, planting an unstoppable downward header past Courtois. Game on!
49 min: Mepham is awarded the first yellow card of the evening for unceremoniously clattering into the back of Hazard. He’ll now miss the home fixture against Poland on Sunday.
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48 min: Tielemans shovels a diagonal pass towards Carrasco, just inside the Welsh box on the left. Carrasco takes the ball down, thinks about shooting, but tries to tee up Hazard instead. Wrong choice. Wales clear their lines.
47 min: A slow start to the second half. Nobody seems in too much of a mood to push things.
Belgium get the second half underway. No changes.
Calming half-time entertainment.
HALF TIME: Belgium 2-0 Wales
Wales have looked half-decent in attack, but otherwise they’ve been very much second best. Belgium could easily have had a few more. They’ve been magnificent. Here’s Peter Oh: “I’m afraid even a rousing half-time speech by Michael Sheen himself won’t fix this one.”
45 min: Roberts races down the right and wins a corner. Could Wales grab something that could totally alter the momentum of this game? Well, nearly. The corner gets all the way through to Williams on the left. He’s got time to trap and shape a shot towards the top right. Unfortunately it pings off Norrington-Davies’s shoulder and over for a goal kick.
44 min: Nothing comes of that corner either. Wales could do with half time.
43 min: Nothing comes of the corner, which is half cleared. Hazard comes back at Wales and wins another.
42 min: Belgium, unruffled, go back up the other end and continue to probe. Suddenly Tielemans creams a long pass up the right flank. De Bruyne strides towards the box and threads a shot towards the bottom left. It’s heading in, but Hennessey sticks out a boot to deflect it wide of the post.
40 min: Free kick for Wales out on the left. They load the Belgian box. James curls it into the mixer. Rodon wins a header at the far post. Witsel is forced to hack out of his six-yard box. Ampadu heads back goalwards. Courtois parries, and the hosts clear. Much better from Wales!
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39 min: Imagine what De Bruyne would do against opponents that don’t bore him.
GOAL! Belgium 2-0 Wales (Batshuayi 38)
De Bruyne’s already scored one. Now he’s set one up. He powers into the Welsh box down the right. He’s got the beating of Ampadu, and rolls across for Batshuayi, who can’t miss from a couple of yards. It had been coming, to say the least.
36 min: Johnson twists and turns down the right. His tenacious dribble earns a corner off Carrasco. James hits it long … but it’s an easy pick for Courtois, who tries to send De Bruyne away on the counter. Roberts comes across to put a stop to his gallop, and is brought down by De Bruyne for his trouble. Brave defending that nixed any notion of a break.
34 min: Belgium go up the other end and nearly make it two for the umpteenth time. Hazard cuts in from the left and his low curler whistles inches wide of the right-hand post. Not sure Hennessey had that covered.
33 min: The Welsh press bears fruit, as Belgium’s attempt to play out from the back rebounds to the feet of James, who dribbles into the box from the right and takes a shot. It’s blocked. Then the flag goes up for a handball against Moore, as it turns out that was how Wales snaffled possession in the first place. But it’s something.
31 min: Hazard is at the heart of everything right now, as Belgium probe this way and that.
29 min: Belgium have enjoyed 68 percent of possession so far. They look even more dominant than that statistic suggests. The Welsh midfield is getting totally overrun.
27 min: There are huge gaps in the midfield for Belgium to romp into. Hazard strides down the middle and tees up De Bruyne, who has aeons to line up a screamer. He cannons a shot off the base of the left-hand post. The rebound falls to Carrasco, who is offside, but Hennessey isn’t to know, and makes a fine block of a low shot. A second goal is surely just a matter of time. “Quite a statement to bench Ward, who’s actually playing (if awfully poorly) every week,” writes Harriet Osborn. “Maybe it’s a much needed fire under the seat.”
25 min: Belgium really are knocking at the door for a second. Carrasco drops a shoulder to come in from the left. His shot is deflected out for a corner, from which Witsel flicks a header on for Batshuayi. The striker blazes wide right and high. Wales are hanging on a bit here.
24 min: Belgium paint some pretty triangles down the left. Then suddenly Batshuayi flicks De Bruyne free with a lovely no-look reverse pass. De Bruyne romps into the box and scuffs his shot from a tight angle. He really should have rolled across to tee up Tielemans.
22 min: More patient Belgian passing. They’re beginning to make Wales chase. Possession at a premium for the visitors now.
20 min: Hazard sashays in from the left and rolls infield for De Bruyne, who has Meunier bombing down the inside-right channel, screaming for a pass as he reaches the edge of the box. De Bruyne decides to spin and take the shot on himself. Three rugby points. For once, De Bruyne makes the wrong decision.
18 min: That goal has understandably taken a bit of the wind from the Welsh sail. Shame, they’d started so well. “As brilliant as KDB is, that was the attempted save of a keeper who hasn’t played much this season say the S4C comms team,” reports Phillip Wainwright. “Must admit I agree.”
16 min: A long ball down the middle nearly opens Wales up. Batshuayi looks to have sprinted clear of Norrington-Davies, but the Welsh midfielder fights back and gets a block in, just in time.
15 min: So nearly a second for the hosts. Carrasco turns Roberts inside out down the left and crosses low for Tielemans, who nearly steers the ball into the bottom-right corner again. This time the ball shaves the outside of the post. “Dammit,” cries Matt Dony. “All Wales for ten minutes. One Belgian attack, and they score. Typical. Still, plenty of time for a Hal Robson-Kanu moment…”
13 min: Wales try to respond through Williams, sent scampering down the left by Moore. The resulting cross floats harmlessly out of play for a goal kick.
12 min: Hennessey got a hand to that, but couldn’t stop it. Fierce yet forensic. De Bruyne is such a class act, like that’s breaking news.
GOAL! Belgium 1-0 Wales (De Bruyne 10)
Well, scrub that. Belgium hog the ball for a bit. They patiently stroke it around, this way and that. Suddenly Batshuayi tears down the right flank. He’s got Meunier racing by his side on the overlap, but instead cuts back for De Bruyne, who adjusts his body and steers a powerful sidefoot into the bottom right from the edge of the box. Sensational finish! He’s not bored now!
8 min: Roberts throws long from the right. Moore wins a flick on, but there’s nobody in white to take advantage. Courtois claims. Wales will be more than happy with the way these first few minutes have gone.
7 min: A chance for Carrasco to release De Bruyne down the left. His pass is too heavy, allowing Roberts to come across and play the ball off the Manchester City man and out for a goal kick. De Bruyne fumes quietly. Or perhaps he’s just bored.
6 min: Belgium take a little of the sting out of things with some sterile possession at the back.
4 min: Tielemans, perhaps low on confidence given Leicester’s troubles, ships possession with absurd ease in the centre circle. Johnson races off with attacking intent, only for the Welsh counter to be stopped in its tracks by the whistle because there are two balls on the pitch. Rob Page is not happy.
2 min: A fast start by Wales sees Williams cross deep from the left, then Johnson return the favour from the right. Neither delivery is of the required quality, but the early signs are that Wales have come here to give it a go.
8 seconds: Moore sticks his elbow into Vertonghen’s jaw and is pretty lucky not to go into the book. An early calling card.
After both teams take the knee in a gesture of solidarity against discrimination, Wales get the ball rolling. A bit more noise coming from the crowd now, to be fair.
The teams are out! Belgium wear red, forcing Wales into second-choice white. The King Baudouin Stadium isn’t filled to capacity, far from it, and so the atmosphere is slightly lacking, though the Welsh travelling support are doing their bit by giving it plenty. We’ll be off after the anthems. Enough time for Mary Waltz to set a poser: “How can it be that Belgium, with all that amazing talent, has underperformed so consistently?” No idea, Mary, sorry.
Rob Page speaks to S4C. “We’ve gone as strong as we possibly could. It would be too much of a risk to play Gareth Bale from the start. No doubt he’ll play some part tonight, but it would have been crazy to play him from the start. We’re up against good opposition, and we’re prepared for a tough battle. It’s all about this game. They want to finish top of the group, we want to stay in the division, so there’s everything to play for.”
Gareth Bale, currently in the process of increasing his match fitness with Los Angeles FC, starts this one on the bench. Goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey takes the captain’s armband. Aaron Ramsey, Ben Davies, Harry Wilson and Joe Allen are all missing through injury.
In other superstar news, Kevin De Bruyne starts for Belgium, while Real Madrid’s Eden Hazard captains the side. Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans also starts.
The teams
Belgium: Courtois, Debast, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Meunier, Tielemans, Witsel, Carrasco, De Bruyne, Batshuayi, Hazard.
Subs: Mignolet, Casteels, Theate, Openda, Mertens, De Ketelaere, Trossard, Onana, Dendoncker, Vanaken, Castagne, Saelemaekers.
Wales: Hennessey, C Roberts, Rodon, Mepham, N Williams, Smith, Ampadu, Norrington-Davies, James, Moore, Johnson.
Subs: Ward, King, Gunter, Cabango, Levitt, T Roberts, Bale, Morrell, J Williams, Harris, Thomas, Harris.
Referee: Ali Palabıyık (Turkey).
Preamble
Wales’s A4 Nations League campaign took an understandable back seat to their World Cup qualifying bid. Robert Page and his Qatar-bound men wouldn’t change a thing, but as a result relegation from the top tier of Uefa’s shiny new tournament looks more likely than not. If they’re not to go down, they’ll need to at least one win from their last two matches, two if Poland beat the Netherlands tonight. Small problem: Wales have never beaten Belgium on their own pitch, and since knocking them out of Euro 2016, are winless in three against the world number two side, losing on their last visit 3-1 in 2021. Big game coming up, then; just as well Wales have developed a habit of turning up for them. Kick off is at 7.45pm BST. It’s on!
