Wales opened the scoring in the eighth minute by way of Leeds United centre-back Joe Rodon, who finished off a cross delivered by Sorba Thomas with a header. This lead didn't last long as just 10 minutes later, Ethan Ampadu's handball in the penalty area gave Belgium the chance to equalize from the spot. Belgium's legendary midfielder Kevin De Bruyne stepped forward and buried the spot-kick to put his side back on level terms.
Belgium would enter the half-time break a goal ahead after Thomas Meunier drilled a first-time shot coming off Jérémy Doku's pass into the roof of the net. Despite trailing, however, Wales had the bulk of the possession - but couldn't convert that ball dominance into goalscoring opportunities. This was once again the case throughout much of the second half; Wales were once again made to pay for failing to capitalize on this advantage. Once again, Wales conceded a penalty by way of a handball - this time from Leicester City midfielder Jordan James. For the second time, De Bruyne disposed of the penalty, all but clinching the win for Belgium.
With just one minute left in regulation time, Wales gave themselves a glimmer of hope after substitute Nathan Broadhead put the ball in the net to reduce Belgium's lead to 3-2; however, any chance of a comeback was snuffed out almost immediately when Arsenal winger Leandro Trossard scored the final goal of the match and restored Belgium's two-goal lead, atoning for his turnover that led to Broadhead's goal by doing so.
Despite Belgium now being all but guaranteed a spot in the global showpiece tournament in North America next year following this victory, this was by no means a result which will inspire much confidence about their chances of making a deep run in the tournament. On paper, one would have assumed that Belgium would've made short work of Wales - but in practice this wasn't so.
It's notable that Belgium allowed Wales to have entirely too much possession. Belgium were able to get away with it this time because Wales aren't even close to being one of the elite international football teams. However, what would happen if Belgium were to surrender 62% of the possession to their opponent in the round of 16 at the next World Cup? More than likely, they would find themselves on the flight back to Brussels in short order.
In addition, it really doesn't help Belgium's case that the second goal they conceded was an easily avoidable one that only came about via an error. Throughout this qualifying campaign, Belgium have been making way too many such errors; once again, it's only due to the relatively lower quality of their opposition that they haven't suffered all that much for them. Once again, if this issue isn't fixed by the time the World Cup comes around, Belgium might be in for a back-to-back early exit following their group-stage elimination in Qatar in 2022.
Belgium have been a team in transition for several years now following the aging and retirement of the majority of the team branded the "Golden Generation" - a title that they in no way deserved as they only made it past the quarterfinals of a major tournament once; this was an abject failure given the stratospheric ceiling that the team appeared to have had. Over the last few years, however, no sign of an upswing has been in sight - and although they may have beaten Wales this time, it was an unconvincing victory that'll certainly leave the critics with far more questions than answers.
There's still almost a year to go until the World Cup begins; however, nothing about this current Belgium team indicates that they have what it takes to turn it around and make a deep run. Their decline from a point at which they were arguably the favorites to win it all shows no signs of stopping. It might not even be all that much of a surprise if they were to once again get knocked out of the tournament in the group stage.
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