WC Qualifiers: Belgium seals FIFA World Cup berth after victory over Estonia

With a 3-1 victory over Estonia on Saturday, Belgium have booked a berth in the 2022 FIFA World Cup with a match left to play in Group E.

Currently, top-ranked Belgium are unbeaten and have an unassailable five-point lead over second-place Wales, who defeated Belarus 5-1 in Cardiff with Gareth Bale making his 100th appearance for Wales.

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Despite the absence of many important players, including Romelu Lukaku, Belgian assaults continued at King Baudouin Stadium, and the Red Devils should have won by a larger margin if it hadn’t been for their wasteful finishing.

Christian Benteke, who took over Lukaku, put the hosts ahead early on, and Yannick Carrasco made it 2-0 after the break. Belgium’s concentration lapsed in the last 20 minutes, allowing Estonia to reclaim the lead thanks to a goal from substitute Erik Sorga, before Thorgan Hazard restored Belgium’s two-goal advantage.

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Following repeated disappointments in previous years, Belgium’s golden generation of players will try for one last major championship push in Qatar.

Led by the likes of Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Lukaku, Belgium made it to the semifinals at the 2018 World Cup and were eliminated by eventual world champions France. In the 2020 European Championship, the Roberto Martinez-managed side suffered a similar fate when they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by eventual winner Italy.

Martinez’s players blew another chance to win a trophy last month when they lost to France in their Nations League semifinal.

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Meanwhile, Wales is guaranteed a World Cup playoff spot through its Nations League results. One more point will be enough for Wales in its final qualifier against Belgium on Tuesday to secure second place in the group and home advantage in their semifinal playoff.

The 12-team playoffs will determine who will compete in the tournament with the 10 European qualifying group winners. The runners-up from each of the ten groups, as well as two group winners from the UEFA Nations League, will be included in the playoff draw.

With inputs from the Associated Press