Belgium v Wales: Dragons' fire can turn heat on Red Devils | OneFootball

World Cup 2026

Wales are unbeaten in nine games under Craig Bellamy

Andy Schooler previews the Belgium v Wales World Cup Qualifier and says the improving visitors can get a result in Brussels on Monday...

Belgium v WalesMonday 9 June, 19:45Live on BBC One & S4C

The post-Gareth Bale era was always likely to be a tough period for Wales but the signs are that they are emerging from that tricky time.

New manager Craig Bellamy took over at the start of this season and, following Friday's 3-0 cakewalk against Liechtenstein, is yet to taste defeat after nine games in charge.

They won their Nations League group (ahead of Turkey) back in the autumn to win promotion to the competition's top tier and have since taken seven points from a possible nine in this World Cup qualifying pool.

Belgian rebuild ongoing

Monday's opponents Belgium were always going to be the biggest test of this campaign but, in contrast to Wales, they are a a side seemingly on the wane, boss Rudi Garcia having to deal with the gradual departure of a 'golden generation' who, frankly, underachieved.

Where several stars of the past decade have already left the stage, others like Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku play on, albeit Garcia must know they inevitably need replacing sooner rather than later.

The tricky nature of Garcia's job has been reflected in results since their disappointing Euro 2024 bid ended at the last-16 stage, the Red Devils having struggled to get out of their group.

Their Nations League season brought just four points and a single win - at home to Israel. They lost the reverse fixture and such results cost Domenico Tedesco his job.

They also meant a relegation play-off which saw them lose the first leg 3-1 only to turn things around at home - Garcia's first games in charge.

Then on Friday, their opening World Cup qualifier saw them held 1-1 in North Macedonia, who hit both posts at 0-0 too. The result replicated Wales' effort in Skopje in March.

Hosts look worth opposing

Despite all this, Belgium are on offer here at 1.43 in the match betting market on the Exchange which simply looks too short.

The Welsh have been pretty solid under Bellamy, conceding only six goals in their nine games, while they have Premier League quality in forward areas with the likes of Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson - the latter has now scored in five of his seven games under the new boss and is 13/2 to repeat the trick here.

Admittedly, the loss of Neco Williams to injury is a blow but I don't think it's insurmountable.

On the positive side, it's more than interesting to note that Wales have lost only two of their last eight games against Belgium, a run stretching back to 2013 when de Bruyne was Belgium's scorer in a 1-1 draw.

Some will suggest that statistic bares little relevance here but I've long been a believer that head-to-head records can have a mental advantage (or disadvantage) and it was interesting to hear Wilson talking about it last week - the Welsh players will be drawing something from those previous encounters, I've no doubt.

That leads me to my suggested bet here.

A lay of Belgium has to be worth considering given how the seasons of these teams have played out and while I accept that the hosts possess enough quality to see off Wales, they certainly look a team in transition and one lacking fluency right now.

Bellamy says Wales will attack their hosts.

"We go there and I'm not camping," was his verdict on Friday night. "I'm not sitting back. It's not in my make-up. I can't do it, I don't want to do it."

I'd certainly be interested to see how Belgium react if they do fall behind.

We can lay Belgium at 1.44 and a 2.27-point stake has a liability of 1pt. If Wales avoid defeat, we scoop up the 2.27.

It's essentially the same as backing Wales/Draw in the double-chance market, although you'll only get 2.2pts of profit for a 1pt stake there.

Moore has card potential

Perhaps influenced to Bellamy's comments, the overs are actually the slight favourite on the 2.5 goal line at 1.83.

That's maybe one to consider for the Bet Builder seekers, although sadly the player markets weren't available at time of writing.

When they do go up, a price worth looking at will be Kieffer Moore's player card odds.

As I've written on these pages before, the centre forward has seen plenty of cards at international level and I put that done to his 'battering ram' style of winning aerial balls, arms up in the air - it doesn't go down with many continental referees.

Moore has been carded in 15 of his 49 international appearances. Filter things down to competitive starts and it's 10 of 27.

The official in charge is Irfan Peljto and he looks a decent appointment for card punters. The Bosnian has shown 4+ cards in six of his last seven internationals and eight of his last 11 competitive ones.

I'll certainly be checking out Moore's price when it's available.

Recommended bets

2.27pts lay Belgium @ 1.44

Andy Schooler's P/L 2024/25

Staked: 31pts Returned: 36.09pts P/L: +5.09pts

2023/24: +4.54pts