Wales suffer late heartbreak as thrilling fightback comes up short

WALES almost pulled off a stunning comeback against Belgium in their World Cup qualifier on Monday night, fighting back from 3-0 down before their hopes were dashed in heartbreaking fashion.

- MATHEW DAVIES

Goals from Harry Wilson, Sorba Thomas and Brennan Johnson looked to have given Craig Bellamy’s side a share of the spoils against all the odds.

But a late Kevin de Bruyne goal gave the home side all three points in a quite crazy contest.

Talk about a game of two halves.

The result blows Group J wide open, with North Macedonia having beaten Kazakhstan earlier in the day, leaving Wales in second place behind the North Macedonians.

Before the match Bellamy had said: “I’m not camping. I'm not sitting back. It’s not in my make-up. I can't do it, I don’t want to do it.”

That may have been the plan but the quality of the hosts was evident from the start.

Bellamy made three changes to the side who beat Liechtenstein 3-0 last Friday, with Chris Mepham, Jordan James and David Brooks coming in for Neco Williams, Liam Cullen and Kieffer Moore.

Wales were very much on the back foot from the start and the visitors were happy to let the hosts have possession. But they quickly made them pay, with Thomas and Johnson forced back pretty much immediately.