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Match Preview for Wales v Kazakhstan
Craig Bellamy begins his attempts to lead Wales to back-to-back World Cups when they host Kazakhstan in Cardiff on Saturday.
The former captain has made a superb start to life in charge of the national team, going unbeaten in his six games so far, of which he has won three.
A 4-1 win over Iceland for the Dragons secured promotion from Nations League B at the end of last year, also securing at least a play-off place for next summer’s World Cup.
Ultimately though, the upcoming World Cup qualifiers are where Bellamy will be judged and they will be hoping to make a good start in a group containing Belgium, North Macedonia and Liechtenstein as well as Kazakhstan.
This qualifying campaign will be Wales’ first without former talisman Gareth Bale since 2004, when Bellamy was still playing, with the 45-year-old looking to usher in a new era.
Belgium look set to be Wales’ biggest rivals to secure top spot in qualifying, with Saturday’s opponents Kazakhstan enduring a dismal 2024 having lost seven of their eight games including defeats in each of their last five.
But while World Cup qualification will be a big part of whether Bellamy is deemed a success or failure, he insists it is not the most important thing in his mind.
Watch Craig Bellamy and Ben Davies face the media live ahead of Kazakhstan 🎙️ https://t.co/tzXctgtNrH
— Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) March 21, 2025
“I want the players to qualify. Do I want to coach at a World Cup? Yeah, but is it the most important? I’m OK, trust me,” the Wales boss said.
“Do I want the money that can come back to help us invest, to help us keep improving this game of ours? That’s all I get motivated for. I need that money so we’ve got more pitches, we build more infrastructure.
“I’m going to come and go… but I want a legacy. I want to be able to say, ‘in his period he did this’.
“The more I do, I’m always thinking this is serious, this is full-time. This is not a part-time role. People in Wales deserve that.”
Team news for Wales v Kazakhstan
Captain Aaron Ramsey will be out for the rest of the season after undergoing hamstring surgery, with Fulham winger Harry Wilson another influential player to miss out.
Ethan Ampadu, Rhys Norrington-Davies and Wes Burns are also injured, with Tom Lawrence back in the fold after a four-year exile from international football.
Veteran Askhat Tagybergen will be looking to win his 60th cap for Kazakhstan, with their attack led by Adana Demirspor striker Abat Aymbetov.
A big absence saw Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov not included in their 32-player squad after struggling to get minutes at Besiktas.
Predicted lineups for Wales v Kazakhstan
Wales: Ward; Williams, Mepham, Cabango, Davies; J. James, Sheehan; Johnson, Cullen, D. James; Harris
Kazakhstan: Pokatilov; S. Astanov, Kasym, Marochkin, Bystrov, Vorogovskiy; Tagybergen, Tapalov, Orazov; Aymbetov, Samorodov
1958 🤝 2025 pic.twitter.com/LKNh7jKm9h
— Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) March 18, 2025
How to watch Wales v Kazakhstan: TV channel, stream
Wales vs Kazakhstan kicks off at 7:45pm UK time and is available to watch on BBC Wales and BBC iPlayer.
The stats
- In 14 of the last 16 Wales home matches in the World Cup Qualification UEFA, the sum of goals was under 3.5
- In 8 of the last 10 Wales home matches in the World Cup Qualification UEFA, the sum of goals was under 2.5
- In the last 3 Wales matches in the World Cup Qualification UEFA, the sum of goals was under 3.5
- In the last 10 Kazakhstan away matches the sum of goals was over 2.5
- Kazakhstan have lost the last 5 matches in a row while scoring less than 0.5 goals
- Kazakhstan have lost the last 8 away matches in a row and the sum of goals was over 2.5
- Kazakhstan have lost 7 of the last 8 away matches while scoring less than 1.5 goals
- Kazakhstan have lost 8 of the last 10 matches while scoring less than 1.5 goals
Prediction for Wales v Kazakhstan
Wales are in much better spirits than their opponents and that should see them through on home turf.
With one eye on a trip to North Macedonia on Tuesday, Bellamy’s men should get the job done without exterting too much energy.
Wales 2-0 Kazakhstan
