Cymru U21 battled hard but ultimately suffered a 1-0 defeat against Belgium in Westerlo in the penultimate game of their UEFA U21 EURO qualifying campaign.

The character and resilience shown by his side after going down to 10-men, together with the performance of goalkeeper Joe Duncan on his U21 debut, will give Matty Jones plenty of positives to take into the final group match against Austria next week.

Belgium went into the match as Group I leaders following their 1-0 win over Belarus on Thursday, and made three changes as Richie Sagrado, Arthur Piedfort and Jesse Bisiwu came into the starting line-up. Meanwhile, Jones handed U21 debuts to Ronan Kpakio and Duncan.

It was back in October 2025 that Belgium registered a 7-0 win over Cymru in Newport, and they went ahead inside the opening eight minutes as a cross from Romeo Vermant was finished by Norman Bassette. Belgium dominated with the one-goal advantage, but Cymru responded well as they quickly settled into the match.

For all their early possession, Belgium failed to test Duncan after the goal, but it was a different story at the other end. Archie Harris and Ronan Kpakio both asked questions of the Belgian defence with testing balls into the area, and Cymru would create the best chance of the half on 27 minutes.

A through ball to Calum Agius found him one-on-one with goalkeeper Lucca Brughmans but only a fine save from close range prevented Cymru from equalising. Minutes later, Kpakio and Harris again caused doubt in the home defence, but the visitors just could not capitalise on the opportunities being created.

However, Cymru would have a setback just before half-time as Dan Cox was booked twice in quick succession and was sent off on 40 minutes. Belgium were visibly lifted by the decision, and Bassette could have scored a second when he dispossessed Duncan but could not convert into the empty net.

With their extra-man advantage, Belgium dominated the opening 15 minutes of the 2nd half with Duncan being called into action to deny Bassette from scoring his second on multiple occasions. The debutant keeper was in inspired form as his side were being overrun in defence, much to the concern of the away bench.

A pause in play on the hour mark allowed Jones to get his players together on the touchline, while a string of changes for both teams minutes later disrupted the domination that Belgium had become accustomed to since the restart. Vermant, Piedfort and Arthur Vermeeren had chances for the home side, but Cymru would finish the stronger of the two teams.

In fact, Cymru laid siege on the Belgium penalty area in the final exchanges, forcing a series of corners that saw Duncan come up to try and round-off his memorable debut. However, Belgium resisted the increased pressure from the visitors to claim the win ahead of their decisive match against Denmark next week.

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Cymru U21 narrowly beaten away in Belgium