Prediction: Wales to win 1-0
Best Odds: 4/1
Kazakhstan and Wales will lock each other in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification next week. The UEFA Group J match between Ali Aliyev’s side and Craig Bellamy’s team will be held at the Astana Arena in Astana and is scheduled to kick off at 3pm UK time on September 4.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan are a modest footballing nation and are not expected to qualify for the World Cup finals. They have been placed in 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group J along with North Macedonia, Wales, Belgium and Liechtenstein.
Ali Aliyev’s side are fourth in UEFA Group J at the moment with three points from three matches, five points behind leaders North Macedonia and four points behind second-placed Wales.
Kazakhstan kicked off their World Cup qualifier with a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Wales at the Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff, which followed a 2-0 victory over Liechtenstein at Rheinpark Stadion in Vaduz. Kazakhstan suffered a 1-0 loss at the hands of North Macedonia in Astana in June.
Team News:
Kazakhstan manager Ali Aliyev has named a strong squad for matches against Wales and Belgium. Mukhammedzhan Seisen, Temirlan Anarbekov, Alibek Kasym, Erkin Tapalov, Islam Chesnokov, Galymzhan Kenzhebek, Dinmukhamed Karaman, Oralkhan Omirtaev and Maksim Samorodov are in the squad.
Wales
Wales are a major footballing nation in Europe now and have come on in leaps and bounds in recent years. The Dragons qualified for the 2022 World Cup finals, reached the semi-finals at UEFA Euro 2016 and also progressed to the round of 16 at UEFA Euro 2020.
Craig Bellamy’s side will fancy their chances of winning 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group J. Wales are second in the group with seven points from four matches, just a point behind leaders North Macedonia.
Wales kick off their Group J campaign with a 3-1 victory over Kazakhstan at the Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff on March 22, 2025 before playing out a 1-1 draw with North Macedonia away from home at the Toše Proeski Arena in Skopje three days later. Wales beat Liechtenstein 3-0 in Cardiff in June before losing 4-3 to Belgium in Brussels.
Team News:
Wales manager Craig Bellamy has left Aaron Ramsey out of the squad for the match against Kazakhstan. Leeds United captain Ethan Ampadu will not feature either after suffering a knee injury against Everton in the Premier League. Cardiff City duo Dylan Lawlor and Ronan Kpakio are in the squad, but Rubin Colwill is not.
On Ramsey’s omission, head coach Bellamy said: “He hasn’t played enough football over a period.
“It wouldn’t be fair to call him up, travel the distance, the time difference [from Mexico to Wales] and then travel to Kazakhstan, and expect him to play any part of it after being out for so long.
“The injury, particularly with a hamstring injury, it wouldn’t be responsible from us to do that or expect anything from him.
“I speak to him a lot. The idea with him is to get minutes, get training and back to just playing football.
“If he’s available and he’s had a lot of minutes, and that comes from training as well, a consistent basis of being involved in football, then we’ll look again.”
Key Factors to Consider
- Kazakhstan have not scored 3 goals in 3 World Cup qualifiers.
- Kazakhstan have conceded 4 goals in 3 World Cup qualifiers.
- Wales have scored 10 goals in 4 World Cup qualifiers.
- Wales have conceded 6 goals in 4 World Cup qualifiers.
- Against Kazakhstan at the Cardiff City Stadium in March, Wales had 64% of the possession and took 12 attempts on goal.
Conclusion
Wales may be the visiting team for this match, but they are much better and should be able to pick up all three points from the match against Kazakhstan.
Prediction: Wales to win 1-0
Best Odds: 4/1
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