Wales overcame Kazakhstan to begin their 2026 World Cup qualifying marketing campaign with a win and preserve Craig Bellamy’s unbeaten reign as supervisor.
Dan James and captain-on-the-night Ben Davies scored both aspect of an Askhat Tagybergen penalty earlier than substitute Rabbi Matondo ensured there was to be no main upset on the Cardiff Metropolis Stadium.
The Dragons have by no means certified for back-to-back World Cup finals tournaments and the three factors right here will give Wales loads of hope of constructing historical past in a gaggle that additionally contains Liechtenstein, North Macedonia and Belgium.
⏰ FT | 🏴 3-1 🇰🇿
A successful begin to our @FIFAWorldCup qualifying marketing campaign ✅
💻 https://t.co/3RqUX2u87x pic.twitter.com/eInCzWMHH1
— Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) March 22, 2025
Dan James opened the scoring inside 10 minutes when his deflected strike discovered the web after Kazakhstan made a large number of clearing the hazard.
It signalled a cushty night for Bellamy’s aspect however issues have been removed from easy because the guests seemed harmful in spells.
Kazakhstan had failed to attain within the entirety of their Nations League B marketing campaign this season. However shortly earlier than the half-hour mark, they have been degree when Tagybergen discovered the web from the penalty spot after Connor Roberts had been penalised for a handball.
It sparked a nervy previous couple of minutes of the half for Wales however simply moments after the restart Davies, deputising as skipper within the absence of the injured Aaron Ramsey, headed dwelling from a nook to revive the host’s lead.
From there, Wales seemed largely snug and wrapped issues up in stoppage time when Matondo rifled in his first senior worldwide objective to seal the victory.
It offers Bellamy’s males a platform upon which to construct and they’ll go into Tuesday’s conflict with North Macedonia, who beat Liechtenstein 3-0, stuffed with confidence.
