Kevin de Bruyne to the rescue as Belgium hold off gallant Welsh fightback

BRUSSELS – There was relief for Belgium after scraping through a dramatic World Cup qualifier against Wales on June 9, but plenty for coach Rudi Garcia to ponder after a narrow 4-3 home win.

Belgium had been cruising at 3-0 up inside the first half-hour of the Group J match at the King Baudouin Stadium, but Wales fought back to 3-3 with 20 minutes left before Kevin de Bruyne grabbed the winner two minutes from time.

“The most important thing is that we won. Psychologically it is tough to give away a three-goal lead, but we showed our mental strength,” said Garcia after Belgium’s second game in their qualifying group for the 2026 Finals in North America.

“We kept fighting. It is symbolic that Kevin of all people scored the winning goal.”

It was a controversy-filled encounter in Brussels, with two penalties and several lengthy interventions by VAR.

Belgium’s record scorer Romelu Lukaku got things going with a 15th-minute penalty, followed by goals in the 19th minute for captain Youri Tielemans and Jeremy Doku in the 27th minute.

Wales pulled a goal back from a Harry Wilson spot-kick on the stroke of half-time and then turned the game around with second-half strikes from Sorba Thomas and Brennan Johnson.

De Bruyne, however, brought the home team much relief with a back-post finish in the 88th minute as he ghosted in unmarked to get onto the end of a Tielemans long cross.

Wales had their hopes dashed at the end to slip to second in the standings behind North Macedonia, who won 1-0 away in Kazakhstan.

Tielemans said relief was the primary emotion after the game.

“We are happy with the victory, but we know that should not have happened to us,” he said of the Welsh comeback.

“I have no explanation for how that happened. But the craziest things can happen with the national team. We felt we could finish the match earlier, but then we dropped off a bit.

“Then we conceded a goal and their confidence grew. We had to defend together as a team, choose the right moment to react and get back into the match but we didn’t do that well.”

Belgium travel to Liechtenstein on Sept 4 for their next qualifier.

Wales coach Craig Bellamy insisted he was proud of his players, despite losing late.

“Really proud. We didn’t cope with the momentum in the first half when the penalty went against us. We suffered for a period there. We got a penalty and it gave us that belief. We were able to move the ball with momentum and the second half was outstanding,” he said.

“Since September, since I came in with them, I have felt immensely proud to be their coach. I’ve always, every training session and every game, been left with that.

“In the second half, I hope they’ve seen what they can do and seen how good they are. That was pleasing. I hope this gives us the belief to be the team we want to be. We move on from it.” REUTERS, AFP