Wales v Belgium live: Craig Bellamy’s side face crunch World Cup qualifier in Cardiff | OneFootball

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'We had to suffer a lot of pain' Bellamy on 'difficult' 3-0 loss to England

Wales continue their World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign against Belgium in Cardiff and they are fast approaching crunch time in pursuit of a place at the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer.

Craig Bellamy’s side sit third in Group J, one point behind tonight’s opponents Belgium in second and two points behind table-toppers North Macedonia with a game in hand. After this evening’s clash at Cardiff City Stadium, there will be just two matches left for each team in the group as they hunt the lone automatic qualifying spot, with the second-placed side heading into a play-off.

Wales will need to have licked their wounds quickly after an emphatic 3-0 defeat to England in Thursday night’s friendly, as they were blitzed by three goals in a dismal opening 20 minutes and failed to break the losing streak over their near neighbours that stretches back to 1984.

Now it’s back to the competitive action however and Roberto Martinez’s Belgium side will hope to find a cutting edge that was missing in their 0-0 home draw with North Macedonia on Friday.

Follow all the action from the Cardiff City Stadium below:

Ethan Ampadu: Wales will recover from England loss in time for Belgium qualifier

Ethan Ampadu insisted “bruised” Wales will recover from their Wembley defeat and bounce back for tonight’s massive World Cup qualifier against Belgium.

Wales must beat Belgium to retain hopes of finishing top of their qualification group and reaching next summer’s finals automatically, although their strong Nations League showing last year almost certainly guarantees them a play-off spot in March.

Asked if morale had been damaged by the 3-0 loss to England, Leeds midfielder Ampadu said: “Maybe naturally in the moment, because we’re all professionals.

“We came here with the highest expectations of ourselves. We wanted to put on a better performance and show what we can do, what we’ve been practising and what we’re capable of.

“But whether we like it or not, we have to go again [tonight] and we know how big it is.

“So whether the morale’s gone or the ego is a little bit bruised we have to pick ourselves up as a team, which we will do. We’ve already spoken about that. It’s time to go again.”

Ethan Ampadu: Wales will recover from England loss in time for Belgium qualifier

The Dragons were blown away by England inside the opening 20 minutes.

Luke Baker13 October 2025 17:35