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BELGIUM 0 WALES 0
Do Wales need at least a point tonight to stay in the hunt for automatic qualification? Email your thoughts to evan.fanning@telegraph.co.uk
Half time: Belgium 0 Wales 0. So far, so good for Wales. At least as far as the scoreline is concerned. It's been a bit dicey at times but it was never going to be anything different and they are still in it which is all that really mattters.
44 min: De Bruyne hits the free kick up and over the wall but it is a straightforward save for Hennessey.
43 min: Free kick to Belgium as Hazard eventually tumbles to the ground under a challenge from Allen after two or three swipes at his heels.
John McEnerney writes: "Belgium didn't have a great WCup considering the talent they have, they don't concede many & I think Deano is right Courtois won't be that busy tonight. When you see the attacking ability it's enough to make you park the bus but I think Wales will have to defend like their rugby compatriots & hope to catch Belgium on the counter. If Wales are lucky they could nick a point & will do no harm, go looking for the win & they might leave themselves wide open & the Belgians will exploit that. Wales need to hassle Belgium & not let them settle. Tough night ahead for the 11 Welsh men on the pitch & the fans too!"
40 min: Great run from Bale down the right and Wales win a corner. Cotteril plays a very straight ball in from the set piece but Courtois comes and gathers about 12 or 15 yards off his line. Wales need to re-think these set pieces. Basically anything that goes inside the box is gobbled up by the Belgian goalkeeper.
33 min: De Bruyne takes the outswinging corner towards Fellaini but Williams does just enough to put off the Manchester United man.
33 min: The wall does its job as Hazard's free kick - which is pretyy poor to be honest - clips off the side of it and goes behind for a corner.
32 min: Yellow card for Joe Ledley for leading with his arm as he jumped with Axel Witsel and Belgium have a free kick in a shooting position.
29 min: Hazard is in the mood. He dances down the right while two petrified Welsh defenders get lost in his lightning quick feet. He fires a low ball across goal which Williams cuts out at the near post.
27 min: An unusual backpass from Vanden Borre puts Courtois is a spot of bother but he manages to mop up the mess made by his team-mate .. just.
25 min: Belgium are starting to crank up the pressure here. They win a corner on the left .De Bruyne takes it. It somehow finds its way to Lombaerts who takes a touch, turns and hits a shot which canons back off the post and somehow Wales scramble it clear.
22 min: The Welsh defence is properly breached for the first time but Wayne Hennessey is alert to the danger, racing off his line to block from Chadli after Origi’s brilliant flick took two or three players out of the game.
18 min: Williams heads clear Fellaini’s cross and Wales have a chance to counter. Ramsey is in plenty of space but his ball over the top towards Bale was far too heavy and Courtois gathers. That’s a waste from Ramsey.
14 min: Now it's Eden Hazard's turn to show his ability, weaving through the Wales defence and bringing a save from Hennessey at his near post.
13 min: Free kick to Wales: Bale stands over it and hits a brilliant effort, dipping and curling, which Coiurtos beats away and Vertonghen scrambes it behind before Ramsey can nod home the loose ball. Courtois comes and claims the corner with ease.
12 min: Origi tries to spin Williams on the edge of the area - in fact he does spin Williams but Hennessey is off his line quickly and gathers.
11 min: Eden Hazard is given far too much space on the left and picks out a cross towards Fellaini but Chester gets across to get the slightest of touches to the ball – and most vital of touches.
10 min: First job done for Wales which is to take the sting out of the game and get a bit of a feel for the ball. They've done that now - it feels round - so their next step is to get a proper foothold in the match.
7 min: Cotterill stands up a cross to the back post but that's easy pickings for Courtoius.
6 min: For a split second it nearly opens up for Aaron Ramsey as he races onto Bale's ball but Jan Vertonghen gets across and makes a vital interception. That's a promising moment for the Welsh.
5 min: Belgium are getting into their groove now as Hazard weaves his way in from the right touchline, exchanges passes with Origi, and plays it to Chadli but his cross is poor.
2 min: Wales are getting a decent amount of possession at the moment – it’s all in their own half but it's not quite the attack v defence scenario that was feared beforehand. Robson-Kanu is a bit too careless with it though and Nacer Chadli bombs down the right but his chipped cross is cleared.
Peep! The Czech referee gets the game underway and we're up and running in Brussels.
4.53pm As the teams make their way onto the pitch Sky remind us that Wales have never beaten* a top 10-ranked team away from home.
* Since Fifa began their ranking system which may or may not pre-date the Premier League, which is when football began.
4.50pm “We’ve got to be greedy and gutsy,” says Chris Coleman. That’s more like it. “We’re against a top team but we’re not afraid.”“We’ve got to be greedy and gutsy,” says Chris Coleman. That’s more like it. “We’re against a top team but we’re not afraid.”
4.45pm Dean Saunders doesn't envisage Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois having much to do tonight. "I don't think he'll have much to do tonight," said Saunders, confirming our previous sentence. Honest, I suppost, but where is the blind patriotic fervour?
4.40pm Mark Ogden files this dispatch from Brussels ...
"Chris Coleman's Wales squad will stay overnight in Brussels following the game in order to visit the Welsh World War One memorial at Langemark as well as the Artillery Wood cemetery."
4.30pm So in theory this is a meeting of two 'Golden Generations' (© various people who should know better).
4.25pm I don't know about you but this is exactly the type of Europop I would expect to hear being played in a stadium in Belgium ...
Team sheet #bel v #wal pic.twitter.com/oyygHQYnEj
— Mark Ogden (@MOgdenTelegraph) November 16, 2014 4pm Good afternoon all on such a massive night for this Wales side that no amount of Sky Sports-hyperbole can do it justice. So hands up, who would take a point right now? That's a lot of Welsh hands. The team news is starting to filter through from Brussels so I won't waste any more of your time ...
Belgium: Courtois, Vanden Borre, Alderweireld, Lombaerts, Vertonghen, Witsel, Fellaini, De Bruyne, Chadli, Origi, Hazard.
Subs: Mignolet, Nainggolan, Benteke, Lukaku, Mertens, Meunier, De Bock, Denayer, Dembele, Januzaj, Ciman, Gillet.
Wales: Hennessey; Gunter, Chester, Williams, Taylor; Ledley, Allen; Cotterill, Ramsey, Bale; Robson-Kanu.
Subs: Fon Williams, Davies, Dummett, Gabbidon, Huws, Lawrence, Ricketts, Matthews, Jake Taylor, Collins, George Williams, Ward.
Referee: P Kralovec (Czech Republic)
12.30pm Evan will be here from 4pm with team news and build up from Brussels. Wales are sitting pretty at the top of Group B but this is the biggest test to date for Chris Coleman's side. Ryan Giggs believes the players need to handle the growing expectation levels that the Welsh may reach a major tournament for the first time since 1958. Mark Ogden reports ...
For Ryan Giggs, Wales and Manchester United could not have been further apart. One was a story of unparalleled success, milestones and achievement – the other merely a tale of frustration, covering 16 years and 64 caps and nothing more than a couple of near misses when a major tournament loomed on the horizon.
Giggs, now assistant to Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford, will watch from afar as Wales attempt to confirm their status as genuine contenders to qualify for Euro 2016 when they face Belgium in Brussels on Sunday night, in what the 40-year-old describes as the “real test” of Welsh ambitions.
But having lived through United’s torturous wait for success before they ended a 26-year league title drought in 1993, Giggs believes that Wales, whose hopes rest on the Champions League triumvirate of Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen, must now overcome a similar psychological hurdle if they are play in their first major tournament since 1958 in France.
“Of course it will be tough for Wales,” Giggs said. “When I first got into the team at United, the expectation was so big because the club hadn’t won the league for so long and it’s the same with Wales and getting to a major tournament.
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