What a performance from Wales. This must go down as one of the greatest results in their history. They deserved to win. They outfought Wales, they never stopped running they were brilliantly organised by Chris Coleman and they know that they always have a chance when Gareth Bale is playing. His goal separated the sides and Wales now stand top of Group B, three points ahead of Belgium, who were a massive disappointment. They don’t really live up to the hype. But take nothing away from Wales. They’ll savour this night and they have taken another huge step towards sealing their place at a major tournament for the first time since 1958. Thanks for reading and emailing. Night.
Full-time: Wales 1-0 Belgium
It’s over Wales have beaten Belgium! They’re top of Group B!
90 min+3: We are into the final minute. The whistles from the Wales fans are ear-splitting. They’re almost there. Belgium have surely run out of time and Wales are eating up the seconds with another substitution, Andy King replacing Hal Robson-Kanu.
90 min+2: Hazard saunters down the right and finds Ferreira-Carrasco. He wins a corner. Courtois is up! Wales deal with the corner, but Belgium keep coming. Another ball is lifted into the Wales box. For a moment, Benteke is unmarked, but he can’t bring it down!
90 min+1: The crowd cheers as if they’ve just seen a goal as Hennessey, who has been faultless tonight, catches the corner.
90 min: The free-kick is tapped to Vertonghen. His piledriver is deflected wide for a corner on the left. There will be three minutes of stoppage time.
89 min: The crowd howls as the referee awards Belgium a free-kick 25 yards from goal, Ashley Williams penalised a little harshly for a trip on Axel Witsel. These are nervous moments for Wales.
88 min: Gareth Bale, the Wales goalscorer, is given a standing ovation as he limps off. Burnley’s Sam Vokes replaces him as the rain begins to fall heavily from the sky.
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87 min: Bale is down now, holding his calf. Is it cramp? He’s wincing. I think he’s been playing with this injury for around 20 minutes.
86 min: Bale must be carrying an injury. He looks like he can’t break into a sprint now, choosing to play as an ersatz playmaker whenever he gets on the ball.
84 min: De Bruyne’s fizzing low cross from the left takes a nick off Richards and it’s Hennessey’s ball. Moments later, Ferreira-Carrasco drills another cross into the middle, where Lukaku and Benteke are having a nice snooze.
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82 min: Hazard is clipped from behind by Allen in the middle of the Wales half. Belgium want a second yellow for Allen but the German referee waves their appeals away.
81 min: The corner is headed back into the danger area by Benteke. Witsel tries to hook it in but succeeds only in booting Richards in the face. Free-kick to Wales. Another minute ticks away.
80 min: Hazard lifts a peach of a cross into the six-yard box from the right. Lukaku is waiting. Gunter, almost underneath his own crossbar, heads it over. Brilliant defending.
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79 min: A flick from Hazard almost sends Witsel through but the ball is diverted behind for a corner. The corner is glanced on at by Benteke but Vertonghen can’t latch on to the ball at the far post.
77 min: Denayer plops a lame ball straight through to Hennessey. There are some glum faces in the Belgium end now.
75 min: Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco, scourge of Arsenal in the Champions League this season, replaces Toby Alderweireld. Belgium have switched to a back three.
74 min: De Bruyne knocks another simple pass out of play. This is turning into a miserable experience for Belgium, who are finding it difficult to do the basics now.
72 min: Another sloppy Belgian pass drifts out of play. This is deeply underwhelming from the visitors. They’ve not lived up to their reputation tonight. Meanwhile a worrying sight for Wale: Bale appears to have tweaked something. He’s been trying to stretch something out on a couple of occasions in the past few minutes and has had a chat with the bench.
71 min: A rousing rendition of the Welsh national anthem. Applause. A roar. The Welsh fans are doing their bit.
69 min: Wales have enjoyed a decent spell in the last few minutes, keeping possession well, taking the sting out of the game.
67 min: Lukaku has contributed bugger all since coming on. Belgium need him and Benteke to liven up.
65 min: Belgium could do with some more verticalidad.
64 min: Thinking back to Bale’s goal, what was particularly impressive was how aware he was of his position and where Courtois was. He had his back to goal, but he knew exactly where to put the ball when he turned.
63 min: Are you allowed to bring sofas into a football stadium? The Wales fans could do with a few to hide behind between now and the final whistle.
62 min: De Bruyne wins another corner on the right. Alderweireld sends a free header over the bar.
61 min: The pressure is growing. De Bruyne slides a pass to Alderweireld, who sends a cross to the far post from the right byline. Hazard meets it; his header is diverted over the bar for another corner, from which a scramble ensues. Wales get it clear. They survive. But is their grip on this lead loosening?
59 min: Bale runs at Lombaerts on the right and dabs the ball round the Belgium defender, who sends him sprawling with a shameless body check. Lombaerts is booked.
58 min: Hazard diddles through the thicket of Welsh bodies on the edge of the area and finds Vertonghen. His low blast is blocked by Gunter and the ball is hacked clear.
56 min: Belgium could have had a penalty here. Perhaps they should have had a penalty. Hazard drifts inside from the left and bursts into the area after a sharp interchange with Benteke and Lukaku. He has the beating of Williams, who catches his heel with the faintest of touches. It’s not enough to make Hazard go down but it does knock him off his stride as he pulls the ball back. His cross is cleared and Belgium’s appeals are surprisingly muted. I suppose the referee might have decided that although there was contact, it wasn’t enough to merit a penalty.
54 min: This is wasteful from Alderweireld. Hazard feeds him on the right and he blazes an inept shot hopelessly wide of the near post from a tight angle. Marc Wilmots is livid on the touchline.
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53 min: Belgium have had the ball for a while.
50 min: Wales respond. Richards clips in a cross from the right and Robson-Kanu’s header drops harmlessly wide.
49 min: Belgium have started the second half at an insistent, furious pace. De Bruyne twists and turns on the edge of the area, working a yard of space, and he drills a shot just wide from 20 yards. Hennessey didn’t move a muscle.
48 min: Nainggolan’s teasing low cross from the right misses everyone in the middle and dribbles a couple of yards past the far post. That was close, although Hennessey didn’t seem too bothered.
48 min: Belgium have started strongly. De Bruyne bounces a cross in from the right and the ball skews off Gunter’s knee and over the bar. Wales clear the corner.
47 min: I was getting ready to type GOAL! De Bruyne flashed the ball into the six-yard box and Benteke shrugged off Williams, only to prod a volley over the bar from close range. “There was a magical period in the early 00’s where we beat Italy and Germany, and drew with Argentina, and sold out the Millennium Stadium regularly, but then it trailed back off to the underwhelming performances we were all used to, and like you said, the atmosphere was lacking,” says Matt Dony. “Just maybe, this could be the start of a return to those heady days. They may have been fair weather fans, but the Millennium is a magnificent stadium when it’s bouncing, and I’d love to see more football there.”
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46 min: Wales get the ball rolling in the second half. Belgium have made a change. Romelu Lukaku has joined Christian Benteke up front. He’s replaced Dries Mertens and they’re now set up in a 4-4-2 formation. Belgium are immediately on the attack down the left and Hazard wins a corner.
Elsewhere in the group, it’s Bosnia 1-1 Israel and Andorra 1-2 Cyprus. You can follow those games with Scott Murray.
Half-time: Wales 1-0 Belgium
There’s no need for any stoppage time. It’s been a breathless first half, played at breakneck speed, and it ends with Wales improbably in the lead thanks to a goal from Gareth Bale on his 50th cap for his country. If Wales can hang on to this slender advantage, they will top the group. But surely there is going to be a response from Belgium after the restart. They’ve been hugely disappointing since going behind.
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43 min: Mertens blasts an ambitious volley miles over from 30 yards. Belgium could do with half-time, 15 minutes to have a sit down and gather their thoughts.
41 min: Benteke has been very quiet. Admittedly the service to him has been poor. But I wonder how long it will be before we see Romelu Lukaku.
39 min: Lombaerts knocks a shaky pass straight out of play. Belgium have been all over the place since Bale’s goal.
38 min: Bale steams through the middle. He has the bit between his teeth now. He thinks about a shot but instead decides to find Ledley on the edge of the area. His shot is blocked but the ball runs to Richards. He lifts a cross to the far post, where Robson-Kanu heads over, pressurised by Alderweireld.
36 min: A lull. Belgium need to get Hazard on the ball again.
33 min: Belgium are rocking. Wales should be 2-0 up. Wales carve Belgium open on the right, Gunter in behind the dozing Vertonghen. Gunter is forced wide but his shot is pushed out by Courtois and straight to Robson-Kanu, who sends an instant sidefooter just past the post with his left foot! Will Wales regret that miss? He should have scored.
32 min: That header from Radja Nainggolan to Gareth Bale was reminiscent of one from Paul Scholes that gifted Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink a goal for Chelsea against Manchester United in 2001. Conclusion: I need to get a life.
31 min: Witsel pokes a pass through to De Bruyne on the left. De Bruyne swivels and drags a low ball into the six-yard box, but Hennessey snaffles it.
29 min: The free-kick is tapped to Vertonghen, whose low drive takes a nick off a defender and just slithers beyond Benteke and out for a corner. Wales deal with it comfortably.
27 min: The roof almost came off the Cardiff City Stadium after that goal. Can you blame them? Wales are heading top of the group if it stays this way. Oh, Radja! But Wales can’t get carried away just yet. There’s a long way to go. Hazard picks the ball up on the right and he’s scythed down by Joe ‘Welsh Xavi’ Allen. He’s booked.
GOAL!!! Wales 1-0 Belgium (Bale, 25 min)
It had to be Gareth Bale! But what a horrendous mix-up this is in the Belgium defence. This is appalling, one of the more amusing mistakes you could wish to see. Poor Radja Nainggolan. It came from a free-kick on the left, won by Robson-Kanu, given away by Denayer. Ramsey’s cross was headed away at the near post. There was a spot of head tennis on the edge of the area. Then, curiously, Nainggolan decided to head the ball back into the area, presumably intending to get it back to Courtois. One problem: Bale was waiting all alone inside the six-yard box. The Belgium defence had pushed up but he couldn’t be offside. He chested the ball down, turned and then slipped it underneath Courtois with his right foot!
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23 min: Wales have settled a bit in the past few minutes. A long ball is lifted down the inside-right channel for the lonely Robson-Kanu to chase. He harries and pesters Lombaerts, who’s forced into looping a hospital pass back to Courtois. The Belgium goalkeeper won’t thank him for this, especially not with the persistent Robson-Kanu continuing to give chase. The ball sits up at an awkward height for Courtois, who can only shank his clearance out for a throw on the left. The home fans liked that.
21 min: Taylor hoicks a cross into the Belgium area, granting Courtois a touch of the ball.
19 min: The Belgian fans are bouncing.
17 min: Hazard drops a shoulder and shoots from 25 yards. Blocked. Wales break. Bales goes on a turbo charge on the left. He skates past Nainggolan, but Denayer is too strong, covering expertly. Bale looks imploringly at the German referee, demanding a free-kick, but he’s not getting one.
15 min: I suspect that Wales will gladly take a point.
13 min: It’s all Belgium. Wales are hanging on. De Bruyne shoots from the edge of the area. His effort is blocked but Hazard fastens on to the loose ball in a flash, skipping round one man and then driving a volley inches over the bar from 15 yards. A goal appears to be on the way.
11 min: Belgium probe down the left. Hazard finds De Bruyne, whose cross is only half cleared by Taylor. Nainggolan exchanges passes with Mertens and then skelps a brilliant low shot towards the bottom-right corner from 20 yards with his right foot. Hennessey plunges down sharply to push the ball away. Fine shot, smart save, but Wales could do with picking this up a tad. Belgium are firmly in control. They’ve stamped their authority all over this match.
9 min: “Just curious, why the match is at the Cardiff City Stadium instead of the Millenium Stadium?” says Mike Mackenzie. “How does the pizza compare between them?” I think they’ve struggled to fill the Millennium Stadium in the past, meaning that the atmosphere has been poor.
8 min: Mertens whips in another cross. Hennessey charges off his line to collect it. It’s an easy catch but for a brief second the ball almost squirms out of his grasp. Luckily for Wales, he grabs it before it can fall to the feet of a Belgian attacker.
7 min: But here comes Bale! The noise rises. He nutmegs a defender on the right and hares off towards goal, winning a corner. Aaron Ramsey drives it into the area and Robson-Kanu steers a header a few yards wide.
6 min: A bright start from Belgium. Wales aren’t seeing much of the ball.
4 min: Eden Hazard picks up possession on the left. There are boos. Two Wales players swarm all over him, but they’re penalised for pressing too vigorously. The Belgian possession continues unencumbered. Mertens swings a cross in from the right. It’s just too far in front of the unmarked Christian Benteke in the middle.
2 min: Wales are set up in a 5-3-2 formation. Gareth Bale is in a central role and tonight he won’t have 90,000 fans shouting at him when he dares to have a shot.
And we’re off! Belgium, all in black and kicking from right to left in the first half, get us underway. Wales are all in red. “Worst Pizza Ever...in Lublin Poland some years back,” says David Studer. “They made two kinds, topped with green tomatoes or with sauerkraut. Even then you didn’t get a choice...whatever was coming out of the oven as you reached the head of the line, voila! Bring on the bacon and weiners.”
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Time for the anthems. Belgium’s first. It’s a standard anthem, no frills, no nonsense, it does a job. The Welsh one is noisy, sung lustily and with gusto. It’s noisy. The stadium is noisy. Will Belgium be cowed?
Here come the teams! The atmosphere is wonderful.
Brian Cruickshank has sent news of a bacon-wrapped pizza crust. “Here is true gastronomic brilliance (disguised as heart failure),” he says.
Would you eat pasta served in an axe? I would! Exciting!
@JacobSteinberg hot dog stuff pizza crust? Better than pasta served in an axe. https://t.co/H0oD7Ol1NL
— Mister Justin (@mister_justin) June 12, 2015
What’s your hot take on pizza crust stuffed with hot dogs? Culinary vandalism or an inspired gastronomic gambit?
Wales must be hoping that their opponents tonight are as hapless as the Belgian fans who bashed WALES into their sat nav, only to end up in a small Yorkshire town which shares a name with the rather larger country over to the left. What a bunch of silly sausages!
The teams
Wales: Hennessey; Gunter, Richards, Chester, Williams, Taylor; Allen, Ramsey, Ledley; Bale, Robson-Kanu. Subs: Fon Williams, King, MacDonald, Church, Vokes, Lawrence, Matthews, Vaughan, Cotterill, Henley, Ward.
Belgium: Courtois; Alderweireld, Lombaerts, Vertonghen, Denayer; Nainggolan, Witsel; De Bruyne, Hazard, Mertens; Benteke. Subs: Mignolet, Tielemans, Mirallas, Deschacht, Carrasco, Origi, Dembele, Lukaku, Vanden Borre, Chadli, Dendoncker, Gillet.
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany).
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Preamble
1958. Michael Jackson was born in 1958. Pizza Hut opens. The first parking meters were installed in Britain. Real Madrid win their third European Cup. The Jim Henson Company is founded. Instant noodles go on sale. Lolita is published in the USA. Some wars happen. Some elections take place. One pope dies. Another pope is elected. Pizza Hut opens! What a time it was to be alive, blissfully unaware that they’d be stuffing hot dogs into the crust a mere 57 years later.
Anyway this preamble has accidentally taken on a cheese-and-tomato-based theme, which wasn’t my initial intention. The point is that while humanity was witnessing the birth of a delicious pizza franchise, Wales were also basking in the glow of playing at the 1958 World Cup. It was a decent enough showing from the lads. They made it out of the group stages - hurrah - and were drawn against Brazil in the last eight. Hurr ... ah. They were sent on their way, losing 1-0 after a goal in the 66th minute from some kid called Pele, but reaching the quarter-final wasn’t too shabby. No one could complain about. The future was looking bright for the Welsh. Little did they know that by the time humanity had evolved to the point where sausages were being squeezed into pizzas, they still wouldn’t have been back to a major tournament. That’s a long time! Mighty England have won a World Cup since then!
But the Welsh wait could be set to end. They’ve got Gareth Bale, they’ve got Aaron Ramsey, they’ve got, er, James Collins and Chris Coleman’s men are joint top of their group after five matches. We’re at the midway point of qualifying for next summer’s European Championships and they’re still going strong. Their first four matches saw them win 2-1 in Andorra, draw 0-0 with Bosnia-Herzegovina, beat Cyprus 2-1 at home and then draw 0-0 in Belgium. Then, in their previous match, they Baled Israel 3-0, a famous night, a brilliant result.
But now comes another test of their credentials. Belgium, who are above Wales on goal difference, are in Cardiff. Wales have Bale and Ramsey, but Belgium have an entire Golden Generation (not that history has always been kind to those). Eden Hazard and chums reached the last eight of last year’s World Cup, losing narrowly to eventual finalists Argentina, and beat France 4-3 in a friendly in Paris the other night. This lot mean business and they’re unbeaten in five matches against Wales. They haven’t lost to them since 1993. Ryan Giggs and Ian Rush scored in a 2-0 win for Wales that day. Ending that winless run is not going to be easy. Belgium are strong. Yet if Bale can repeat his Haifa heroics tonight, anything is possible.
Kick-off: 7.45pm BST.
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