Wales became the first British team to reach the semi-finals of a major tournament since England in Euro '96 as they trounced Belgium 3-1 to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2016. Radja Nainggolan opened the scoring for Belgium with an absolute screamer, but Wales were by far the more determined and energetic side, and fully deserved to win.
This result means that a potentially tantalizing clash between Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo will take place in the semi-finals.
Wales make history, and their fans are loving it. Photo: @BBCMOTD | Twitter
The game started as expected, with Belgium maintaining most of the possession in the opening moments. However, Wales were quick to show that they weren't about to sit back and soak up pressure, as an early run from Gareth Bale saw him flash a shot into the side netting just moments after Hal Robson-Kanu sent a looping header over the bar.
Despite the bright start from Wales, Belgium soon showed their quality in style. In the 15th minute, Radja Nainggolan picked the ball up from about 30 yards out and let loose an absolute belter. Hennesey managed to get a hand to it, but he had absolutely no chance. It was a goal that the opening 15 minutes deserved.
Wales didn't look perturbed despite falling behind, and they charged forward, targeting left back Jordan Lukaku as a weak spot. They almost made it count straight away, after some good build up play ended with a cross into the middle for Neil Taylor, who was denied by a fantastic save from Thibaut Courtois.
Wales continued to look the more dangerous team, and in the 30th minute, an Aaron Ramsey corner found the head of Ashley Williams, who sent a bullet of a header into the back of the net to equalize.
Wales ended the half much the stronger team, with Williams coming close again as Belgium looked befuddled in their defence of set pieces.
Belgium started the second half the stronger team, as Lukaku blew a glorious chance to give Belgium the lead and De Bruyne sent a shot just over the bar. It looked like the game would resume its normal pattern, but then...magic.
Robson-Kanu received the ball in the box after lovely work from Ramsey and Bale. He then performed a beautiful Cruyff turn to lose his markers and sank the ball into the corner. There were definite questions over the Belgium defense though who, much like in the first half, looked extremely shaky.
Unlike Wales, who coped well with conceding in the first half, Belgium looked lost after Wales took the lead. They just couldn't seem to string more than a few passes together and the energetic pressing of Wales really threw them off their rhythm.
Nevertheless, Belgium started to build up some steam again and actually looked on the verge of equalizing, but were pushed back again and again by a staunch Wales defense. And Wales made them pay.
In the 85th minute, Sam Vokes, who had come on for Robson-Kanu, latched onto a cross and sent his looping header beyond Courtois and into the net. 3-1. Game over. Wales had defied all expectations. The dragons were going through.
One sore spot for Wales is that they will now be missing Aaron Ramsey through a yellow card suspension (Two cards in five games? Come on, FIFA. Seriously.) as well as Ben Davies. But they won't be worrying about that right now. Right now, they have a date with Portugal, and possibly, destiny.
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