Ultimately aiming for back-to-back World Cup appearances, Wales welcome Kazakhstan to Cardiff on Saturday evening, as they get their latest qualifying campaign under way.
The nations' first ever meeting comes in Group J of the European qualifiers, which also features Belgium, North Macedonia and Liechtenstein.
Match preview
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Unbeaten in six games to date, Craig Bellamy has enjoyed a bright start to life as manager of his national side, leading Wales to promotion in the UEFA Nations League late last year.
The Dragons finished with an emphatic 4-1 home win over Iceland in League B Group 4, claiming top spot in their group; as a by-product, they effectively guaranteed at least a playoff for World Cup qualification.
Finishing first again, after a campaign that finishes next November, would see them reach the 2026 finals automatically, with Belgium likely to pose their greatest threat.
After kicking off with Saturday's home game against Kazakhstan - the first time Wales have played their opening qualifier without Gareth Bale since September 2004, when Bellamy was still in the starting XI - they must visit North Macedonia next Tuesday.
Expectations are high, as not only have they lost just one of their last 16 matches - a 4-0 friendly defeat to Slovakia last summer - but a current run of 12 competitive games unbeaten is the best streak in the senior side's history.
Having also won half of their last 22 World Cup qualifiers, losing only twice, Wales memorably qualified for their first global finals in 64 years last time around, but a tame group-stage exit in Qatar has left them wanting more.
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By contrast with their opening-day hosts, Kazakhstan endured a dismal 2024, losing seven of their last eight competitive games - including the last five in a row.
That represents the Hawks' worst run for nearly nine years, so they were unsurprisingly demoted to the third tier of the Nations League.
Dropping into League C after finishing rock-bottom of their group without even scoring, Kazakhstan were relegated with one game to play - and that was a 5-0 thumping in Norway, featuring a hat-trick for Erling Haaland.
They even lost a February friendly to North Korea before beating Caribbean minnows Curacao 2-0 on Wednesday, when Maksim Samorodov and Askhat Tagybergen were on target in Antalya.
After coming relatively close to reaching Euro 2024, the Kazakhs clearly struggled to maintain that momentum, so Stanislav Cherchesov was replaced by interim head coach Ali Aliyev in January.
Initially, he will be tasked with ending a long winless run in World Cup qualifying. Since September 2013, Kazakhstan have won none of their last 21 qualifiers for FIFA's top competition: among all European nations, only San Marino (76) and Liechtenstein (41) are on longer streaks.
Team News
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Topping a significant absence list for Wales, captain Aaron Ramsey will miss the rest of this season after recently undergoing hamstring surgery, ending another injury-scarred campaign for the Cardiff City star.
Harry Wilson - who has been directly involved in 10 goals across his last 12 international starts, scoring in four of his last five - also misses out, as do Ethan Ampadu, Rhys Norrington-Davies and Ipswich Town winger Wes Burns.
As a result, Cymru coach Craig Bellamy must look elsewhere for inspiration, with 18-year-old midfielder Kai Andrews hoping to earn his first senior cap; Tom Lawrence of Rangers has been recalled following a four-year hiatus.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan have named a 32-man squad for quickfire trips to Cardiff and Vaduz, led by 59-cap veteran Askhat Tagybergen.
Adana Demirspor striker Abat Aymbetov is set to spearhead the visitors' attack, but fellow forward Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov - still out of favour at Besiktas - has not been included.
Wales possible starting lineup:
Ward; Roberts, Rodon, Davies, Williams; J. James, Sheehan; Johnson, Cullen, D. James; Harris
Kazakhstan possible starting lineup:
Pokatilov; S. Astanov, Kasym, Marochkin, Bystrov, Vorogovskiy; Tagybergen, Tapalov, Orazov; Aymbetov, Samorodov
We say: Wales 2-0 Kazakhstan
While Wales do not score freely and have key men missing, they should still see off Kazakhstan, who simply cannot buy a win in World Cup qualifying.
With one eye on a tough trip to Skopje next week, the Dragons will aim to get the job done swiftly before conserving some valuable energy.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
