Wales 3-1 Kazakhstan: Craig Bellamy begins World Cup bid with well-earned victory

Craig Bellamy made a point this week of stressing how difficult he felt this contest would be.

But when Daniel James gave his side the lead after just 10 minutes in this, the first step on a road many hope will take Wales to the 2026 World Cup, one must have wondered if that prediction was perhaps a little misguided.

After all, Kazakhstan hadn’t even scored a goal in a competitive fixture for nearly two years before rolling into Cardiff.

But, as evidenced by the traumatic defeat here against Armenia during the desperate Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, international football is often riddled with potential pitfalls. And when Askhat Tagybergen’s penalty restored parity as part of an incident-laden first half, Bellamy’s prediction suddenly looked thoroughly vindicated.

But while they were frustrating for periods of this game, the level of hard work displayed in grinding out this well-earned victory means this will still have been a pleasing night for the Wales boss, whose unbeaten run in charge now stretches to seven games.

Captain Ben Davies settled Welsh nerves with a brilliant header after half-time, before Rabbi Matondo came off the bench to net his first international goal in the final minute of normal time, rounding off a night that means the feelgood factor around this side continues to burn brightly.

Kazakhstani football, in contrast, hasn’t yet managed to catch the attention of too many outsiders, but the deal taking Dastan Satpayev, their youngest ever senior player at the age of 16, to Premier League giants in 2026, suggests that might just be about to change. As will the number of headaches they caused their hosts here.

Kazakhstan boss Ali Aliyev admitted his side’s preparations for this clash had been made more challenging by the fact so many members of his squad were in the middle of fasting for Ramadan.

But they started reasonably well, and hearts might well have been in mouths when Maxim Samorodov pinched the ball from Josh Sheehan before racing into the area, where he was, luckily for hosts, set upon by a swarm of recovering red shirts.

While the shape of this side has always been a little flexible under Bellamy, Intensity out of possession has been an overarching constant, and it arguably helped spark Wales’s opener on 10 minutes.

Daniel James must have felt the chance had gone when David Brooks dragged his return pass into a defender near the byline, but the incredible determination of Liam Cullen was enough to touch the ball into Davies. He then teed up James from a tight angle, and the winger’s effort took a deflection before squeezing into the net.

But while impressive out of possession, Wales were largely sluggish with the ball for much of a frustrating first half, and the lack of quality in the final ball often torpedoed efforts to try and add to what was masquerading as a comfortable lead.

Having found the net, Daniel James was heavily involved in most of his side’s early moves, and probably felt he should have had a penalty around 10 minutes later. His swerving run into the box halted by a rash challenge from Nuraly Alip.

Bellamy was adamant. Referee Donatas Rumsas not so much.

But, shortly after Brooks wasted another promising opening, the Lithuanian official would point to the spot just after the half an hour.

Connor Roberts, who’d previously been excellent in defence, foolishly turned away from Islam Chesnokov’s shot, which would then strike his wayward arm near the edge of the box.

After a lengthy VAR check, Kazakhstan had their opportunity, and captain Tagybergen slotted his effort off the legs of Karl Darlow and in.

VAR would take centre-stage again just before the break after Samorodov’s foot appeared to have a little nibble of Roberts’s knee.

After much deliberation, a yellow card was deemed the appropriate outcome, with Brooks firing the resulting freekick high over the bar.

Darlow then got down well to keep out Yerkin Tapalov’s low effort from distance, as the visitors looked to compound growing Welsh frustrations, which might well have been aired at half-time.

Whether Bellamy briefly departed from the new chilled out persona he’s slowly been carving out for himself since taking this job isn’t clear, but Wales certainly showed a bit more impetus after the interval.

Just a couple of moments after the restart, they were back in front. Davies, who had previously only scored two international goals, bundled his way into the six-yard box before thundering home a header from a Sorba Thomas corner.

Cullen and Chesnokov traded off-target efforts as the contest returned to the domain of knife-edge, while Darlow gathered a deflected low effort from Yan Vorogovkskiy just before the hour.

On came Jordan James and Mark Harris as Bellamy looked to devise a road towards the finish line for his side.

Both came close to putting the game to bed almost immediately. James was denied by a superb save from Alexandr Zarutskiy, with Harris crowded out in his efforts to tuck home the rebound.

Wales had finally found their groove, and Zarutskiy was worked again a few minutes later, getting down well to keep out a low Neco Williams freekick, before Sheehan fired a deflected effort wide.

Wales slowly started to put their foot down, and wrapped up the contest in fine style in the 90th minute.

Thomas, excellent all night out wide, rolled the ball to Matondo inside the area, and he fired home to round off a solid night’s work.

Wales: Darlow; Roberts, Rodon, B.Davies (c), N.Williams; Sheehan, Thomas; D.James (Matondo 86), Brooks (J.James 62), Johnson (Harris 62); Cullen

Subs: Ward, Davies, Mepham, Cabango, Allen, Lawrence, Moore, Dasilva, Broadhead

Kazakhstan: Zarutskiy, Tapalov, Bystrov, Marochkin, Alip, Vorogovskiy; Chesnokov (Kanzhebek 86), Tagybergen, Muzhikov (Zhukov 62), Samorodov (Aimbetov 75); Zhaksylykov (Satpayev 75)

Subs: Pokatilov, Seisen, Astanov, Zhumakhanov, Zhaksybayev, Zhagorov, Orazov, Mukhamed