Wales claimed a momentous win against Belgium



Wales claimed a momentous win against Belgium to regain top spot in their Euro 2016 qualifying group and take a huge stride towards ending their 57-year absence from major tournaments.
Gareth Bale latched on to Radja Nainggolan's misdirected header and finished with consummate calm to give Wales an unlikely lead against the team ranked second in the world.
Belgium dominated for long periods but were frustrated by disciplined and brave Welsh defending at a highly-charged Cardiff City Stadium.
Wales are now three points clear of second-placed Belgium at the summit of Group B and five ahead of third-placed Israel, who lost 3-1 in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Cyprus are level on points with Israel after a 3-1 win in Andorra.


How do you qualify?
There are nine groups and the top two from each will book a Euro 2016 spot, accounting for 18 of the 24 places.
The third-placed side with the most points (discarding those earned against the team finishing sixth in groups as one group has five teams) will also make it.
This leaves eight other teams who have finished third in a group to play off over two legs to provide another four sides.
So that's 23, while France qualify automatically as hosts.
Having started this campaign as fourth seeds, victory also means Wales will now be among the top seeds for 2018 World Cup qualifying.
Without an appearance at a major tournament since the 1958 World Cup, Wales had cultivated a new found sense of belief as they entered this game unbeaten in their five matches to date.
Coleman and his players had spoken beforehand about the anguish of previous near misses and were determined to help buck that trend by beating a Belgian side who had not lost since a 2014 World Cup quarter-final defeat by Argentina.
And this huge defensive effort against Marc Wilmots' team is a significant step towards securing their place at next summer's European Championship in France.
Coleman sprang a major surprise with his team selection, starting with fringe Swansea City defender Jazz Richards at right-back.
Richards and his defensive colleagues were kept busy in an open start to the game in which a fluid, attacking Belgian side put their opponents under pressure.
Nainggolan had a curling 20-yard shot well saved by Wayne Hennessey, while visiting captain Eden Hazard volleyed over the bar.
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