Wales begin their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign against Kazakhstan in Cardiff hoping to extend their unbeaten run under boss Craig Bellamy.
The Dragons are currently undefeated under Bellamy, who took over following Rob Page’s departure last July, and in November secured promotion to League A of the Nations League.
With three wins and three draws under the former Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester City player, Wales will be hoping to qualify for successive World Cup finals for the first time ever.
In Aaron Ramsey’s absence, Tottenham defender Ben Davies will captain the side against Kazakhstan, who Wales have been drawn alongside in a group also containing Liechtenstein, North Macedonia and Belgium.
Here are how the two teams line up in Cardiff.
Wales team
Wales are the second seeds in Group J behind top side Belgium, but Bellamy and co. may well have their sights set on automatic qualification after their strong showing in the Nations League.
They are, however, short of being at full strength, with Ramsey, Harry Wilson, Ramsey, Ethan Ampadu and Wes Burns all absent.
Wales: Darlow; Roberts, Rodon, B.Davies (c), N.Williams; Sheehan, Thomas; D.James, Brooks, Johnson; Cullen
Subs: Ward, Davies, Mepham, Cabango, Allen, Lawrence, Matondo, Moore, Dasilva, J.James, Harris, Broadhead
CYMRU XI 🏴🇰🇿
Our team to face Kazakhstan in the capital 🙌
💻 https://t.co/3RqUX2u87x pic.twitter.com/920aaRcEWg
— Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) March 22, 2025
Kazakhstan team
The visitors will start the game as underdogs and anything other than a Wales victory will be considered a shock result.
Geographically, the country is located in central Asia and the national team was originally part of the Asian Football Confederation’s Central Asian Football Federation after gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
They then joined UEFA in the early 2000s, but the team are yet to qualify for a World Cup or European Championship finals.
Kazakhstan: Zarutskiy, Tapalov, Bystrov, Marochkin, Alip, Vorogovskiy; Chesnokov, Tagybergen, Muzhikov, Samorodov; Zhaksylykov
Subs: Pokatilov, Seisen, Astanov, Zhumakhanov, Zhaksybayev, Kenzhebek, Zhagorov, Zhukov, Aimbetov, Satpayev, Orazov, Mukhamed
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