Wales v Kazakhstan – Line-ups, stats and preview

Match Preview for Wales v Kazakhstan

Craig Bellamy begins his attempts to lead Wales to back-to-back World Cups when they host Kazakhstan in Cardiff on Saturday.

The former captain has made a superb start to life in charge of the national team, going unbeaten in his six games so far, of which he has won three.

A 4-1 win over Iceland for the Dragons secured promotion from Nations League B at the end of last year, also securing at least a play-off place for next summer’s World Cup.

Ultimately though, the upcoming World Cup qualifiers are where Bellamy will be judged and they will be hoping to make a good start in a group containing Belgium, North Macedonia and Liechtenstein as well as Kazakhstan.

This qualifying campaign will be Wales’ first without former talisman Gareth Bale since 2004, when Bellamy was still playing, with the 45-year-old looking to usher in a new era.

Belgium look set to be Wales’ biggest rivals to secure top spot in qualifying, with Saturday’s opponents Kazakhstan enduring a dismal 2024 having lost seven of their eight games including defeats in each of their last five.

But while World Cup qualification will be a big part of whether Bellamy is deemed a success or failure, he insists it is not the most important thing in his mind.

Watch Craig Bellamy and Ben Davies face the media live ahead of Kazakhstan 🎙️ https://t.co/tzXctgtNrH

– Wales 🏴 (@cymru) March 21, 2025

“I want the players to qualify. Do I want to coach at a World Cup? Yeah, but is it the most important? I’m OK, trust me,” the Wales boss said.

“Do I want the money that can come back to help us invest, to help us keep improving this game of ours? That’s all I get motivated for. I need that money so we’ve got more pitches, we build more infrastructure.

“I’m going to come and go… but I want a legacy. I want to be able to say, ‘in his period he did this’.

“The more I do, I’m always thinking this is serious, this is full-time. This is not a part-time role. People in Wales deserve that.”