Wales overcame Kazakhstan to start their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign with a win and maintain Craig Bellamy’s unbeaten reign as manager.
Dan James and captain-on-the-night Ben Davies scored either side of an Askhat Tagybergen penalty before substitute Rabbi Matondo ensured there was to be no major upset at the Cardiff City Stadium.
The Dragons have never qualified for back-to-back World Cup finals tournaments and the three points here will give Wales plenty of hope of making history in a group that also includes Liechtenstein, North Macedonia and Belgium.
⏰ FT | 🏴 3-1 🇰🇿
A winning start to our @FIFAWorldCup qualifying campaign ✅
💻 https://t.co/3RqUX2u87x pic.twitter.com/eInCzWMHH1
— Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) March 22, 2025
Dan James opened the scoring inside 10 minutes when his deflected strike found the net after Kazakhstan made a mess of clearing the danger.
It signalled a comfortable evening for Bellamy’s side but things were far from simple as the visitors looked dangerous in spells.
Kazakhstan had failed to score in the entirety of their Nations League B campaign this season. But shortly before the half-hour mark, they were level when Tagybergen found the net from the penalty spot after Connor Roberts had been penalised for a handball.
It sparked a nervy last few minutes of the half for Wales but just moments after the restart Davies, deputising as skipper in the absence of the injured Aaron Ramsey, headed home from a corner to restore the host’s lead.
From there, Wales looked largely comfortable and wrapped things up in stoppage time when Matondo rifled in his first senior international goal to seal the victory.
It gives Bellamy’s men a platform upon which to build and they will go into Tuesday’s clash with North Macedonia, who beat Liechtenstein 3-0, full of confidence.
