Just when Wales thought they had done enough to earn an unthinkable comeback draw, having trailed 3-0 inside 27 minutes, Kevin De Bruyne wheeled away in celebration, arms splayed, after regaining the lead for Belgium. Now it was 4-3, Wales’s extraordinary work to bounce up off the canvas undone but not forgotten, Craig Bellamy’s unbeaten run finally over.
In the city of the Delirium Village, a cul-de-sac near the Grand Place with a bar sporting a Guinness world record for the most varieties of beer, the Wales supporters who made the pilgrimage felt deliriousness turn to disappointment. It should not linger too long given the manner of Wales’s response from the moment Jérémy Doku, not for the first time, made those in red shirts look silly before firing a shot into the far corner to make it 3-0.
Doku, who Bellamy coached as a 16-year-old during his two years working across town at Anderlecht, caused havoc. Bellamy had seen this movie before. “Yeah … now I know what every coach felt like when I was coaching him,” the Wales manager said. “You can’t stop him. I actually told him during the game: ‘Please drop deep.’ But this kid is phenomenal … you haven’t got a statue for him yet? Start getting it ready. Today I got a little bit of my own medicine.”
At the final whistle techno blared over the speakers and Bellamy made a beeline for the match-winner, saluting De Bruyne, who is expected to join Napoli after leaving Manchester City, before engaging in conversation with Doku and then Romelu Lukaku. Youri Tielemans laid on a midfield masterclass before the Wales penalty, awarded after Matz Sels fouled Chris Mepham at a corner with about 25 seconds of first-half stoppage time to play, shifted the momentum of the game.
At that point, though, few envisaged the scenes after Brennan Johnson directed Sorba Thomas’s cushioned header into the bottom corner past Sels with 20 minutes of regular time to play. The Wales bench emptied into the technical area. A few minutes earlier Mark Harris, on as a substitute, nodded another Thomas cross wide with seemingly his first touch. Suddenly the Wales supporters who understandably declined the open invitation to join in the Mexican wave that rippled around this stadium at 3-0 were only too happy to start one of their own.
Belgium thought they had a winner on 80 minutes when Lukaku fired in but the goal was ruled out after a VAR review deemed the ball had gone out of play on halfway, in front of Bellamy, who was booked for his protests. Wales thought they had survived but then De Bruyne found a winner to cap a ludicrous game. Belgium had gone to pieces but reassembled the jigsaw one last time. Tielemans picked out De Bruyne and Wales finally succumbed to defeat under Bellamy, the first in 10 matches.
Belgium were fortunate to be awarded the penalty that set them on their way. The referee, Irfan Peljto, pointed to the spot in the 11th minute but there was a four-minute break to enable a VAR review of the decision to penalise Johnson for handball. The Tottenham forward tried to shift his left arm behind his back as De Bruyne, having feinted his way past Thomas and then David Brooks, blasted at goal. Bellamy was left wagging his finger at the fourth official as the penalty was confirmed and Lukaku rolled the ball past Karl Darlow, who dived to his left.
This Thursday marks 10 years to the day since one of Wales’s greatest victories, Gareth Bale scoring the only goal against Belgium, then second in the Fifa rankings, in Cardiff. That was a significant step en route to qualifying for Euro 2016, Wales reaching their first major tournament for 58 years. On the night Jazz Richards, a fringe full-back at Swansea who finished his career at Haverfordwest County, was promoted to the starting lineup to help stifle Eden Hazard. Belgium, who were held to a draw in North Macedonia on Friday in their opening World Cup qualifier under Rudi Garcia, have not lost any of their 42 European or World Cup qualifiers since.
For Wales there is, of course, another storied night against Belgium, Hal Robson-Kanu, a free agent after his release by Reading, starring in a 3-1 win in Lille to march on to the Euro 2016 semi-finals. Here, however, any thoughts of another historic result against Belgium – or indeed their first win in Belgium at the ninth attempt – seemed far-fetched inside the first half-hour, if not earlier. In the end though, for Wales, it was another duel with Belgium that will live long in the memory.
