Wales erased a 3-0 deficit in a stunning comeback against Belgium, but Kevin de Bruyne’s 84th-minute winner shattered their hopes and ended Craig Bellamy’s unbeaten streak.
In a match that crackled with madness and magic, Kevin De Bruyne delivered the dagger that silenced Welsh dreams in Brussels. Belgium triumphed 4-3 in a chaotic thriller, just as Craig Bellamy’s men clawed their way back from the dead. The miracle comeback faded into heartbreak as De Bruyne drove home the winner, crushing Welsh resistance and bringing Bellamy’s 10-game unbeaten run to an abrupt, agonising end.
Inside 27 minutes, it looked like a massacre. Belgium, oozing class and ruthlessness, raced into a 3-0 lead. Jérémy Doku danced through defenders like a ghost through fog. With every touch, he carved holes in red shirts. When he blasted Belgium’s third into the far corner, Welsh hopes sank.
But Wales didn’t collapse. They regrouped. They refused to vanish.
Right before half-time, a lifeline arrived. Matz Sels clattered into Chris Mepham during a corner. The referee pointed to the spot and VAR upheld it. The mood shifted. Even the most loyal Belgian fans sensed the wind changing.
After the break, the fire in Wales burned brighter. Sub Mark Harris nearly scored with his first touch. Then, with 20 minutes to go, Brennan Johnson rose to meet Sorba Thomas’s clever header. He nodded past Sels and sent the Welsh bench into chaos. Suddenly it was 3-3. The Mexican wave that mocked them at 3-0 now belonged to them.
At 80 minutes, Belgium thought they had a fourth. Romelu Lukaku blasted the net, but VAR pulled it back — the ball had gone out of play earlier. Bellamy protested furiously and received a yellow card. But Wales still breathed.
Then De Bruyne struck.
Tielemans found him with surgical precision. The captain took a touch and fired. The ball fizzed past Karl Darlow. Silence fell over the Welsh section. Belgium had reassembled their crumbling jigsaw in time. 4-3.
At the final whistle, techno music echoed through King Baudouin Stadium as De Bruyne, calm and deadly, received plaudits. Bellamy, ever the fighter, walked straight to him. He saluted De Bruyne, exchanged words with Doku and Lukaku, and wore the pain of defeat on his face.
For Bellamy, there was pride in defeat. He had once coached Doku as a teenager at Anderlecht. Now he’d watched his former pupil tear his side apart. “You can’t stop him,” Bellamy said. “It’s like getting a taste of my own medicine.”
Earlier, controversy had ignited the match. In just the 11th minute, VAR took four minutes to review a handball by Brennan Johnson. The ball ricocheted awkwardly off his arm as De Bruyne fired a shot. Referee Irfan Peljto awarded the penalty, and Lukaku calmly rolled it past Darlow. The Welsh bench erupted in disbelief. It was the first domino in a match that spiralled into wildness.
This wasn’t the first epic Wales-Belgium encounter. Ten years ago, Gareth Bale’s goal downed Belgium in Cardiff and sent Wales on the path to Euro 2016. That year, Hal Robson-Kanu’s iconic strike in Lille carried them to the semi-finals.
But this night in Brussels felt different. It wasn’t a win, not even a draw. Yet, somehow, it joined the list of unforgettable Welsh performances. Not for the scoreline—but for the fight, the fury, the defiance.
Wales lost. But they reminded the world who they are.
