Qualification for the 2026 World Cup is underway. The 23rd tournament will be the first to be triple-hosted (by Canada, Mexico and the US, heaven help us) and the first to include 48 teams since FIFA in its renowned wisdom chose to expand the already bloated jamboree from 32.
It’s early days, but Cymru’s 20th World Cup campaign has got off to an excellent start in European Group J with a 3-1 win over Kazakhstan in Cardiff and a 1-1 draw with North Macedonia in Skopje – two results that extended Craig Bellamy’s record unbeaten start as Manager/Coach to eight games. To put this sequence into context, only three times previously have Cymru completed eight games without defeat (1958, 1981 and 2020) and only three times has it been bettered (nine games undefeated twice and the all-time record of 10 undefeated between October 2001 and March 2003).
The match at Cardiff City Stadium was Cymru’s first ever encounter with Kazakhstan. The huge country (the 9th largest in the world) emerged as a distinct entity in the 15th century, was conquered by Russia through the 18th and 19th centuries, achieved independence in 1991 when the USSR was dissolved and formed its own national football team in 1992. Initially Kazakhstan was a member of FIFA’s Asian Federation, but in 2002 switched to UEFA. FIFA allowed this, even though Kazakhstan is very much a part of Asia, because a small sliver of western Kazakhstan is on the European side of the the Ural River, the continental border between Europe and Asia. This switch didn’t make much sense from a football point of view since it transformed Kazakhstan from mid-ranking Asian side into European minnow – I wonder if money had anything to do with it, he pondered with sham naivety…
Kazakhstan’s results have slightly improved lately, with notable wins over Denmark, Finland, Northern Ireland (twice) and Slovakia in the last few years, but they never really looked like beating a Cymru side ranked 81 places higher (29th). Dominating possession without playing particularly well in front of the capacity crowd, Cymru gave me a horrible fright when conceding a dubious penalty just before half-time which allowed the Kazakhs to equalise Dan James’ early goal. My palpitations eased as soon as the second half started when captain Ben Davies scored with a header and from then on it was a bit of a walk in the park – literally in my case, since I spent most of the second-half pacing around the back garden – before sub Rabbi Matondo, currently playing for Hannover in Germany, sealed the win with a stylish strike near the end, his first goal for Cymru.
The tougher challenge three days later away to North Macedonia (ranked 67th) saw a much better performance against a side that had won six times on the trot, with Jordan James impressing in midfield, yet the lack of goal power that increasingly looks like Bellamy’s main problem again stymied Cymru’s efforts. The match seemed to be heading to a goalless draw until added time brought excruciating last gasp excitement I could have done without. First, sub Joe Allen gifted a goal to the Macedonians with an inept back-pass in the 92nd minute – surely evidence that, after 77 caps and fantastic service to Cymru, the time has come for Bellamy to put the 35-year-old out to pasture. Then, in the dying seconds with the ref about to blow the whistle, another sub Kieffer Moore set up David Brooks to bundle in a 96th minute equaliser. I will spare readers details of my reaction – suffice to say, it could well have been the most extreme metamorphosis from agony to ecstasy since, um, since, ooh, since…Ovid’s (43BC-18AD) Metamorphoses…?
Macedonia, one of the seven new nations to ultimately gain independence after the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991, was persuaded by Greece to add the ‘North’ in 2020 because a large region in Greece, once part of the ancient Macedon kingdom, is also called Macedonia. The football side has an interesting link to Cymru in that none other than my boyhood hero, Cardiffian John Toshack, was their coach in 2011/12. The head-to-head record against North Macedonia now stands at P3, W1, D1, L1, Goals F3-A3.
There is now a break until June when Cymru meet the other two teams in Group J: Liechtenstein in Cardiff then Belgium in Brussels. No predictions, no assumptions, no expectations…let’s just take this one day at a time…and give me an excuse to play another Kris Kristofferson (1936-2024) composition…
Video: YouTube