" Wales lose to end automatic qualification hopes "

Bellamy and BBM have to prove they are first team managers, not coaches responsible for development squads.

Their job is to win, and if that takes two narrow banks, so be it. So wide open, Belgium didn't press high, stayed in formation and waited for us to give them the ball. A proper manager.

Its back to an average crop of players, so at least he makes it entertaining, but it's naive

ended as they lost 4-2 at home to Belgium in an absorbing contest that left the play-offs as their only realistic remaining route to next summer's finals.

Craig Bellamy's side started brilliantly and took a seventh-minute lead as Joe Rodon headed in from a corner, only for Kevin de Bruyne's controversial penalty to puncture the joyous atmosphere after Ethan Ampadu was harshly penalised for handball following a video assistant referee (VAR) check.

Belgium ruthlessly seized control from that point, cutting Wales to shreds on the break as Jeremy Doku - electrifying all game as he has been for Manchester City this season - sped clear and pulled the ball back for Thomas Meunier to hammer the visitors ahead.

De Bruyne, Doku, Leandro Trossard and others missed chances to add a third goal for the visitors, who eventually put the result beyond doubt when De Bruyne scored his second spot-kick after a much less contentious, clear-cut handball from Jordan James.
Substitute Nathan Broadhead fired in powerfully to raise the faint prospect of a Welsh comeback, which was swiftly extinguished when Trossard restored Belgium's two-goal advantage moments later.

Belgium overtake North Macedonia at the top of Group J, and they are now four points ahead of third-placed Wales with games against Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein to come.

In order for Wales to finish top and qualify automatically, the Belgians would need to lose both those matches - unlikely in the extreme - and Bellamy's side would have to win both their remaining games for a turnaround of miraculous proportions.

Wales may well keep their side of the bargain but it is unthinkable that Belgium would surrender their lead - to Wales at least - from this position of strength.

Therefore, Wales are all but certain to be in the play-offs in March. They will have home advantage for the play-off semi-final if they finish second in their group and, failing that, they will still have a play-off place - albeit away for the semi-final - if they finish third, thanks to their Nations League success.
Their final group position will likely come down to their final game against North Macedonia in November.

As comforting as it might be to know they qualified for the 2022 World Cup via the play-offs, Wales will need to pick themselves up from the floor after seeing their dreams of qualifying automatically ended by another high-scoring and high-octane defeat against Belgium.

Their first penalty was never a penalty. You can't give a penalty for that. You need to use your arms to move, run, balance, change direction etc. The Belgium player chipping the ball into Ampadu's arm from a yard away and getting gifted a penalty from it was a joke. The only way not to give a handball away these days is to wear handcuffs. There is no common sense from the officials, VAR couldn't resist getting involved to swing the game in Belgium's favour. It was an absolutely disgraceful decision which cost us.

It was a huge momentum shift and Belgium then capitalised by getting their second goal. As soon as Belgium went ahead and we were chasing the game, we played into their hands. We gave Doku the extra space he needed to run riot and he was simply too good for us with all the extra time and space we gave him. Doku destroyed us, but only because the officials gifted them their penalty which totally changed the game to give Doku and Trossard the extra space to exploit on the counter attacks.

Their first penalty was never a penalty. You can't give a penalty for that. You need to use your arms to move, run, balance, change direction etc. The Belgium player chipping the ball into Ampadu's arm from a yard away and getting gifted a penalty from it was a joke. The only way not to give a handball away these days is to wear handcuffs. There is no common sense from the officials, VAR couldn't resist getting involved to swing the game in Belgium's favour. It was an absolutely disgraceful decision which cost us.

It was a huge momentum shift and Belgium then capitalised by getting their second goal. As soon as Belgium went ahead and we were chasing the game, we played into their hands. We gave Doku the extra space he needed to run riot and he was simply too good for us with all the extra time and space we gave him. Doku destroyed us, but only because the officials gifted them their penalty which totally changed the game to give Doku and Trossard the extra space to exploit on the counter attacks.

I thought they were both penalties, even under current ‘rules’, but the second was clearer than the first!

The first took the wind out of the sails after a very good Wales start, and it took time to get back into the game, by which time they were behind

They came across a very good Belgium side and on the bright side, it shows Craig Bellamy what is needed to move forward, i.e. developing the new group of talent for the years ahead

The likes of ‘experienced’ Aaron Ramsey (and I’m a supporter), Keiffer Moore (100% not ), and ‘make-weights’ like Mark Harris and others, need to be shipped out in readiness for an attack on the Euros to be played (partly) in Cardiff in 2028

Time for a brave and big shift!

Someone who did qualify is cape Verde! With 550k inhabitants of a cluster of islands off Africa...
Just showsit can be done by small nation they're the 2nd smallest nation ever to qualify