Wales begin their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign tonight as they face Kazakhstan at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Craig Bellamy’s side managed to turn around the disappointment of failing to qualify for Euro 2024 and even finished top of Nations League Group B4 last year, surpassing Turkey on the final matchday.
Former Wales captain Bellamy received plenty of plaudits for that turnaround, though he will undoubtedly feel that his first real test is to secure a place at the next World Cup.
The fact that the 2026 is the first expanded tournament means that Bellamy should have a somewhat easier job task in securing qualification, though Group J still pits Wales against Belgium, North Macedonia and Liechtenstein.
Follow all the latest build-up, team news and updates from the Cardiff City Stadium below:
GOAL! Wales 2-1 Kazakhstan (Ben Davies, 47′)
What a start!
Wales win a corner with pretty much their first attack of the second half.
The corner is whipped over to the back post as goalkeeper Aleksandr Zarutskiy totally misreads the flight.
He flaps wide of the ball which drops on the head of Ben Davies who guides it home!
Second half! Wales 1-1 Kazakhstan
Wales kick off the second half by sending the ball to Josh Sheehan who works it out to the right wing.
No changes made by Craig Bellamy.
HT Wales 1-1 Kazakhstan
45 minutes left to play in this game and there’s a bunch of substitutes warming up for Wales.
Craig Bellamy will need to decide when the time is right to make changes.
HT Wales 1-1 Kazakhstan
Half-time! Wales 1-1 Kazakhstan
45+4 mins: The whistle goes to end the first half and Wales are locked into a battle in Cardiff.
Things haven’t totally gone their way despite dominating most of the half.
Dan James’ goal was cancelled out and the Welsh will need to score again to secure a win.
Wales 1-1 Kazakhstan
45 mins: Four minutes of added time to play in the first half.
Wales 1-1 Kazakhstan
42 mins: No red card!
Samorodov is shown a yellow card for the dangerous tackle.
A wise decision I think, there was no malicious intent in the challenge and the match continues with 11 vs 11.
Wales take their free kick. It’s a dainty move that sets up Brooks for a shot but he curls the effort high and wide.
Wales 1-1 Kazakhstan
40 mins: Hold up. There’s a VAR check here for a potential red card.
The incident is from Maksim Samorodov sticking his leg onto the knee of Connor Roberts.
Roberts was the one to pass the ball to Sheehan before he was fouled.
The referee is looking at it on the monitor…