BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Wales manager Craig Bellamy said his side are still on track to qualify for the World Cup despite slipping from top spot in their group following a 4-3 defeat in Belgium on Monday.
The clash in Brussels would have been marked down as Wales’ toughest test in Group J and it looked like the writing was on the wall when they were three goals down inside the first half-hour.
But Bellamy's side fought back to level at 3-3 and looked good for a surprise point before Kevin De Bruyne snatched a late winner for the hosts.
"To come to a top-eight team and play the way we want to play. I think the Belgian players saw it as well," said Bellamy, who lost his first game as Wales manager after 10 matches in charge.
"We aren't going anywhere. I will have a couple of weeks now of recharging, but I'm beyond proud and really excited about the future."
Wales have seven points from four matches in their group and are at the halfway stage of their campaign.
North Macedonia top the standings with eight points, but Belgium, on four points, have played only two fixtures.
The group winner qualifies automatically for next year’s finals in North America, while the runners-up go into a playoff competition.
Wales next travel to fourth-placed Kazakhstan in September and then have a return clash with the Belgians in Cardiff in October.
Sorba Thomas, who scored his first international goal for Wales on Monday, said their second-half performance showed what kind of a team they are.
"Even though we lost the game, I feel like we won it in our own heads," he added.
"Against countries like this, you'll be punished. I can't wait to play these when we get back to Cardiff."
Wales reached the quarter-final of the 1958 World Cup and did not qualify again until the last finals in Qatar in 2022, where they finished bottom of their group.
(Reporting by Mark Gleeson in London; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
