Ben Fisher was in Cardiff tonight, and his report is in. Here it is! Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night.
Craig Bellamy speaks to the BBC. “Positive result … I knew it would be a difficult game … they never came out of the block … they were quite athletic … we moved our shape … we wanted control … if we keep moving the ball, hopefully they tire and we can pick them off … stay patient … I’ve known Rabbi [Matondo] since he was very young … it’s been so good having him in the group … he’s such a character … he’s so funny … you can’t help but love him … everyone was happy … [North Macedonia] is going to be a difficult game … we’ll have a different profile and energy for that one.”
Ben Davies talks to the BBC. “We realised the importance of starting the second half quickly … the longer it stays 1-1 it would be tense … it was an important one for the team … they are a proud nation who wanted to win the game just like us … they made it really difficult … the second half was much more disciplined … we got the job done … the players were the most angry [at half-time] … Craig Bellamy, Mr Calm, came in with a plan … clear with the messaging … we’re off to a good start.”
Dan James speaks to BBC Cymru Wales. “We spoke all week about getting off to a good start and that’s what we did … delighted … it’s always nice to get on the scoresheet … unfortunate with the pen … we stuck in there … we scored a great set piece … in international football, set pieces are so important … we’ve been practising and it paid off … a great win … so important to get this win … onto Tuesday now … delighted for Rabbi, he’s a great lad … we have a lot of positives after tonight.”
Wales weren’t at their best. But they were better than Kazakhstan, who nevertheless dug in and kept them honest pretty much all the way, until Rabbi Matondo’s first goal for his country sealed the deal right on 90 minutes. Matondo swept home stylishly, a fitting end to a very easy-on-the-eye move, and that final flourish will give Wales a boost as they head to North Macedonia for a top-of-the-table (yeah, yeah, one game in) Group J clash on Tuesday. Still undefeated under Craig Bellamy as well. Seven games!
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FULL TIME: Wales 3-1 Kazakhstan
A winning start to the Welsh campaign for the 2026 World Cup!
90 min +3: … nothing occurs. Matondo’s goal has finally done for Kazakhstan.
90 min +2: Kenzhebek bustles down the left and wins a corner off Sheehan, from which …
90 min +1: There will be three additional minutes of a game that is, thanks to that goal, now over.
GOAL! Wales 3-1 Kazakhstan (Matondo 90)
This is a glorious goal. Jordan James sweeps a lovely long diagonal to Thomas on the right flank. Thomas stops, then bursts past Alip before reaching the byline and cutting back for Matondo, who sweeps beautifully into the bottom-right corner. Lovely move!
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88 min: Chesnokov is replaced by Kenzhebek, who nearly announces himself in exciting fashion, preparing to race into acres down the left. But earlier in the move, Tagybergen is adjudged to have fouled Sheehan while stripping him of possession, harshly so, and the whistle goes. Wales and Sheehan get away with one there, because they would have been light at the back with Kenzhebek in flight.
86 min: Wales make another change, replacing Dan James with Matondo.
84 min: Tapalov sends one in from the right. There’s nobody there in blue. Then another cross comes in from the left. Tapalov contests this one with Darlow, but fouls the keeper in doing so. Wales suddenly living a little bit dangerously.
82 min: … so having said that, Tagybergen crosses from the right. Chesnokov wins a header, eight yards out, but can only cushion it straight at Darlow. A better header and Wales were in a world of pain. A reminder that what happened in the first half – a Kazakh equaliser out of nowhere – could happen in the second. The stadium pensive again.
81 min: Kazakhstan can’t get a touch.
79 min: The pace of this match has dropped. Wales are still in control, though.
77 min: Incidentally, just before that double change, poor Harris nearly suffered an double change of his own, Zarutskiy accidentally blootering a clearance into the Wales striker’s special area from close range as the pair contested a loose ball. Thankfully Harris was soon back into action.
75 min: Two changes for Kazakhstan. Off go Samorodov and Zhaksylykov, on come Aimbetov and the 16-year-old Satpayev, the latter Chelsea-bound in the summer of 2026.
73 min: Roberts nips down the right and crosses low for Cullen, who slams a shot straight at Zarutskiy. Wales are going hard for the third goal that would surely settle this match. Speaking of three-goal hauls … “It’s six years to the (yester)day since Scotland were humiliated 3-0 in Kazakhstan in a Euro 2020 qualifier,” reminisces Simon McMahon. “Still, the defeat ushered in the Steve Clarke era, and he’s done OK, so it’s swings and roundabouts. If Bellamy can do for Wales what Clarke has done for Scotland, I don’t think there will be many complaints. And while I’m at it, it was definitely a penalty at Anfield.”
71 min: Harris, on the right, cuts back for Cullen, who goes over while attempting to trap. Tagybergen right behind him. Cullen wants a penalty but the referee is sure Tagybergen got the ball. Say what you like about the referee, he’s definitely not a homer.
69 min: For those wondering, 10,000 Macedionian denars equals £136.25 at current exchange rates.
68 min: Williams curls low and hard towards the bottom right. Zarutskiy saves. His defenders half clear. Sheehan aims a long shot towards the bottom right. It deflects wide of goal, and nothing comes of the resulting corner.
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67 min: Bystrov barges into the back of Jordan James, just to the left of the Kazakh D. A free kick in a very dangerous position.
65 min: Jordan James is immediately in the thick of it. Cullen shoots. Zarutskiy parries. A game of pinball breaks out. James tries to flick into the bottom right but the keeper claims this time. Wales claim a penalty for handball amid the melee, but that’s something that didn’t happen.
64 min: “Huge celebration in the casino,” reports Alun Pugh of Pre-match Postbag fame. “Thought it a bit strange that Super Ben Davies has such a following in Macedonia. It turns out that someone has just won ten thousand denars on a one-armed bandit.”
62 min: Changes all round. Kazakhstan replace Muzhikov with Zhukov, then Wales send on Jordan James and Harris for Brooks and Johnson.
61 min: Chesnokov is booked for one foul too many. The last straw was a cheeky block on Williams.
59 min: Chesnokov nearly gets the better of Williams down the right. Zipping along the byline, he reaches the box only to be denied the chance to cut back for a team-mate by Williams’ brave, perfectly timed, slide tackle. Anything of the man and that would have been a penalty. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
57 min: Cullen performs a faithfully observed tribute act to Muzhikov. Almost exactly the same shot, top-right of the stand.
56 min: James tries to raise the tempo with a couple of electric sorties down the right. Nothing comes of either dribble. The visitors go up the other end, Muzhikov sending an overly ambitious long rake into the top-right corner of the stand behind the goal.
54 min: Wales stroke it around patiently. Their fans get a little impatient as a stand-off develops, Kazakhstan happy to sit back and let the home side pass it left and right.
52 min: Vorogovskiy tries to get something going for the visitors with a useful dribble down the left touchline, but there’s nobody in the middle for him to cross to. Does he try to shoot from the tightest of angles? Not sure. It sails out for a goal kick anyway.
50 min: Wales have signally picked up the pace since the restart. They’re snapping into challenges now, pressing in the manic manner. Craig Bellamy’s half-time talk must have been something to hear.
48 min: The stadium is roaring now! Wales needed all of 75 second-half seconds to restore their lead.
GOAL! Wales 2-1 Kazakhstan (Davies 47)
Thomas takes, sending the corner long. Zarutskiy comes off his line to punch clear, but flaps and misses. Davies slams a header home from a couple of yards!
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46 min: Thomas tries to get things moving with a determined run down the left, winning the first corner of the second half in short order. From which …
Wales get the second half started. No changes. No real roar, either. A hotbed of pensiveness. The Cardiff City Stadium, usually so loud, is pretty subdued right now.
Half-time postbag. “Aside from Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 World Cup final, I can’t recall another successful penalty that hasn’t touched the net” – David Bowen
“Taking Jeremy Boyce’s idea and running with it for a bit - would a football ‘bonus point’ system like rugby work? Four points for a win, two for a draw, plus one winning bonus point if you score four and one losing bonus point if you’re only one goal behind? It would stop teams ‘declaring’ at 2-0 (cough, England, cough) if they could gain more points through scoring more. I don’t see Ifab or Fifa going for it though, even if it would open games up a bit” – Andy (not that one) Flintoff, channelling the pioneering rulebook-ripping spirit of Jimmy Hill
“Back in the 80s Leyton Orient had a midfield player called Lee Harvey. Unsurprisingly, his nickname was Oswald” – Ian Burch
HALF TIME: Wales 1-1 Kazakhstan
Nope. The whistle goes to end a first-half packed with incident. Hey, it’s Saturday night, it’s Wales, it’s been a rollercoaster ride of emotion. Did you really expect anything else?
45 min +4: Samorodov crosses long from the left, forcing Roberts to head behind for a corner with seconds remaining on the clock. They couldn’t, could they?
45 min +2: Williams comes haring out of defence to clear a ball he’s never going to reach. Chesnokov eases him out of the way, allowing Tapalov to advance on the Wales box and shoot. Easy for Darlow.
45 min: You’ve certainly seen reds given for challenges like the one made by Samorodov, malicious intent or no. But here we are. There will be four additional first-half minutes.
44 min: Thomas reaches the byline on the left and crosses low and hard. Zarutskiy flops on the ball and smothers, but lets his prize escape from under him. James nearly gets to the loose ball, but the keeper claims at the second attempt.
43 min: Williams touches the free kick to the left, and Brooks, aiming for the top-left corner, blazes over. Meanwhile on the touchline, Craig Bellamy has a long pow-wow with the fourth official.
42 min: The referee does indeed deem it a foul, but not one worthy of a red card. Just a booking for Samorodov, a look of great relief spreading across the Kazakhstan midfielder’s face.
41 min: It’s for a challenge seconds before the foul on Sheehan. Roberts was dancing in from the right touchline. Samorodov hung out a leg, and caught Roberts on the back of the knee with his studs. It’s high and late. There didn’t seem much malice, but it was out of control. Samorodov could be in bother here.
40 min: Brooks waits to take the free kick. And waits, because VAR is looking at a potential red card! The referee is called over to the monitor.
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39 min: Thomas loops a cross in from the left. Johnson competes for the high ball but goes down. Nudged in the back? He claims a spot kick but the referee’s having none of it. The home fans far from happy. But they’re cheered a little bit when Sheehan advances down the inside-left channel and draws a free kick from Zhaksylykov.
37 min: Wales again with the possession. But they’re being held at arm’s length right now.
35 min: Craig Bellamy isn’t so content now. A lot of shouting and gesticulating. That equaliser, which came out of nowhere, has stunned the Cardiff City Stadium.
33 min: Back and to the left. The JFK pen. Where were you when Askhat Tagybergen shot?
GOAL! Wales 1-1 Kazakhstan (Tagybergen 32 pen)
Nope, the decision stands. The captain Tagybergen to take. He hits a poor effort just right of centre. The ball hits the diving Darlow’s boot … but instead of stopping, spins back and to the left, over the line and into the goal, if not anywhere near the back of the net.
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31 min: Craig Bellamy smiles incredulously, and captain Ben Davies tells the referee how he sees it. A long VAR check. But Roberts’ arm was outstretched and this surely won’t be overturned.
Penalty for Kazakhstan!
29 min: Chesnokov, on the left-hand corner of the Welsh box, crosses. The ball hits the arm of the nearby Roberts, who was in the process of turning his back on play. The ref points immediately to the spot.
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27 min: … then up the other end, it could have been 2-0, James sending Brooks free down the right. Brooks looks for Thomas, all alone down the inside-left channel, but makes a mess of the simple crossfield pass and the chance is gone.
26 min: Samorodov advances down the left and crosses long, with Chesnokov lurking at the far stick. Williams does exceptionally well to head clear under pressure. Had he not intervened, that could have been the equaliser.
25 min: All a bit scrappy. Craig Bellamy looks content enough.
23 min: Wales are in full control of this now, having weathered that early … well, not a storm exactly, but a good old blow. They’ve enjoyed 75 percent of possession so far.
21 min: There was a bit of contact between Alip and James, mind. The circus-entertainer nature of the forward flip, plus the fact any foul might have been just outside the box anyway, could well have influenced the referee into siding with Kazakhstan over that one.
19 min: James tries to squeeze his way into the Kazakh penalty box from the right wing. He flips over spectacularly, with Alip sliding across him, but while the crowd scream for a spot kick, neither player nor team-mates make too much of a fuss about it.
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18 min: Brooks executes a deft spin and flick to send Alip off for a copy of the Echo. Lovely skill … but then, with acres opening up in front of him, a thunderingly heavy touch leads to his shipping possession immediately. From the sublime to the ridiculous in a split second.
16 min: Chesnokov goes down clutching his face, having taken an accidental arm from Williams. He complains when he eventually gets up, but the referee’s not interested. We play on.
14 min: Thomas works his way down the left again, reaching the byline and cutting back for Johnson, whose first-time sidefoot is deflected wide left by Marochkin. The corner’s worked back up the line then swung in, Rodon pinging a header intended for the top-right corner high and wide.
13 min: Wales, fuelled by the goal, pick up the speed. Thomas curls in from the left. James tries to hook the dropping ball goalwards but it’s easy pickings for Zarutskiy.
11 min: That was as scrappy as it comes, but Wales won’t care. It has to be said: that came against the early run of play. It should settle Welsh nerves.
GOAL! Wales 1-0 Kazakhstan (James 9)
Roberts up the other end this time. He feeds James down the right, and Wales win their first corner of the evening. Brooks, Roberts and James over-elaborate, and the visitors intercept. But Tagybergen takes a loose touch just to the right of the six-yard box. Cullen pokes the loose ball to James, who shoots straight at Zarutskiy … only for the ball to take a huge deflection to wrong-foot the keeper and fly in.
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7 min: Kazakhstan are seeing more of the ball. They probe down both flanks, Zhaksylykov on the right, Vorogovskiy out left. Roberts does well to end the period of away possession by intercepting and blasting the ball off an opponent for a goal kick.
5 min: Tagybergen sends the corner in from the right. Cullen clears. Chesnokov dribbles down the right but falls over his own feet. This is an unexpectedly bright start from the visitors.
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4 min: Yep, that seems to be the case, because Samorodov zips down the left, enters the Welsh box, and takes a shot that deflects out for the first corner of the game.
2 min: Not long after the restart, Zhaksylykov chases a long pass down the left. The ball flies out for a throw. A couple of early signs that Kazakhstan don’t intend to spend the entire evening sitting back?
Kazakhstan get the ball rolling. Tapalov hares down the right but Williams batters the ball off him and it pings out for a goal kick.
A light show dances in the air above the Cardiff City Stadium, then the teams emerge from the tunnel. Wales in red, Kazakhstan in second-choice blue. We’ll be off once the national hymns and arias have been sung.
Craig Bellamy speaks to BBC Cymru Wales. “We have put the team with the best profile out … we are going to have to be patient … we’ll have to wait and see … the plan through the week was trying to work on every solution no matter what … it’s been great as a manager so far … it’s been really special … hopefully we’ll be able to follow what’s been happening with Wales for a number of years with a positive result tonight.”
We might see one of Chelsea’s latest signings in action tonight. Dastan Satpayev, a 16-year-old striker/left-winger who currently plays for Kazakhstan champions Kairat, became his country’s youngest-ever full international last week, coming on as a sub in a friendly against Curacao. He’s signed a five-year deal with Chelsea and will arrive at Stamford Bridge in August 2026 when he turns 18. He’s on the bench this evening.
Pre-match postbag. “Club football is great but you can’t beat the goddamn fun of the real thing. Our trip to watch Tuesday’s Macedonia-Wales qualifier in Skopje nearly fell foul of yesterday’s little hiccup at Heathrow. Not to worry: it ended up with a taxi to Manchester Airport and an unscheduled late-night kebab in Istanbul. Another flight and a hire car later, we now find ourselves in a vast casino on the Kosovo-Macedonia border. Bucket hats might break the dress code but things are definitely looking up as we are sitting at an overstaffed bar where the drinks are free. So kind of a casino to provide free beer. September’s trip to the Kazakhstan game will be plain sailing compared to this” – Alun Pugh
“Great to see so many Leeds names on the Wales team sheet. What does this say about both/either? Dreaming of greatness while tripping over their own bootlaces? Obviously Wales will be hoping for a win, clean sheet and bonus point (errr, sorry, wrong game). Now that their rugby is officially [word redacted by Family Website Editor], will Craig’s boyos be the big new hope? It’s a funny old game” – Jeremy Boyce
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Today’s other game in Group J has already finished. North Macedonia have beaten Liechtenstein 3-0 in Vaduz, with goals from Aleksandar Trajkovski, Visar Musliu and Bojan Miovski. Wales travel to North Macedonia on Tuesday, while Kazakhstan go to Liechtenstein. The fifth country in this group, Belgium, don’t begin their campaign until June.
Wales make four changes to the team that started the 4-1 Nations League victory over Iceland. Karl Darlow replaces Danny Ward in goal, while David Brooks, Connor Roberts and Sorba Thomas take the places of the benched Ben Cabango and Mark Harris and the injured Harry Wilson.
The teams
Wales: Darlow, Roberts, Rodon, Ben Davies, Williams, Sheehan, Thomas, Daniel James, Brooks, Johnson, Cullen.
Subs: Ward, Adam Davies, Mepham, Cabango, Allen, Lawrence, Matondo, Moore, Dasilva, Jordan James, Mark Harris, Broadhead.
Kazakhstan: Zarutskiy, Tapalov, Bystrov, Marochkin, Alip, Vorogovskiy, Chesnokov, Tagybergen, Muzhikov, Samorodov, Zhaksylykov.
Subs: Pokatilov, Seisen, Sultanbek Astanov, Zhumakhanov, Zhaksybaev, Kenzhebek, Nauryzbek Zhagorov, Zhukov, Aymbetov, Satpaev, Orazov, Mukhamed.
Referee: Donatas Rumsas (Lithuania).
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Preamble
One of the top-30 sides in the world host the team ranked 110th, a collective which has lost ten of its last 11 competitive matches, drawing the other 0-0. On paper, this is as close as it gets to a surefire thing, and thus a hard sell. But then football is football, so you never know … and in any case, Wales right now are just so much goddamn fun. For example, has a goalless draw ever been as enjoyable as this?
Not too often, is the correct answer to that one. So let’s settle down for some more top-drawer Saturday-night light entertainment courtesy of Bruce Forsyth Craig Bellamy and the lads. Kick-off is at 7.45pm GMT. It’s on!
