00:00Well, Charles, we, of course, are into a new year now. It is 2025 and that means that soon
00:09enough the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup will get underway. And for Wales, that's really
00:15important because under a new manager in Craig Bellamy, they have started to perform a lot
00:19better. Of course, they did qualify for the last World Cup under Rob Page. They got to
00:23Qatar in 2022. Performances there, let's be honest, weren't great. And then after that,
00:29they continue to slump. Inevitably, Rob Page lost his job. You know, I think of a draw
00:35against Gibraltar, for example. That was really quite poor. Of course, they didn't make the
00:40Euros in 2024 and that sort of summed it up for Wales a little bit. But now Craig Bellamy
00:45has come in, steadied the ship. Things are looking more positive and they've got some
00:49good results. And of course, as I say, there are qualifiers to come. And so what's going
00:54to be the aim? I mean, obviously, well, qualification is the aim for Wales getting back to the World
00:58Cup. But how will this happen? How will this occur? And who will they look to rely on in
01:02terms of star players, star names, to make sure that they get the job done in the group
01:07that they are in?
01:08Yeah, obviously, as you mentioned there, a massive change under Craig Bellamy, it has
01:12to be said. He's really, really steadied the ship and got things right because, you know,
01:18Wales have produced some fantastic players. I think maybe are lacking an individual like
01:23replacing Gareth Bale is obviously a huge task, but they have got the likes of Harry
01:27Wilson and Brennan Johnson, obviously young. Aaron Ramsey, you know, looking to hopefully
01:32be fit for the qualifiers, which is massive to have their captain in that side. But, you
01:38know, I think he's really prioritised just getting things right and setting a high standard
01:43for Wales as a nation. And, you know, qualification has to be the minimum. So, yeah, it's going
01:50to be exciting. It's obviously a massive year for Welsh football in general. You know, the
01:54women's game as well. They've got the Euros this summer coming up, which is fantastic.
01:59Their first ever qualification to a major tournament. So, you know, hopefully the men's,
02:04you know, the women's can have a fantastic tournament and the men's side can then follow.
02:09You know, in terms of games, Kazakhstan, North Macedonia, Liechtenstein and Belgium are the
02:15four teams they'll face home and away from sort of late March to late November. Got to
02:23be sort of making it through those. And, you know, Belgium is sort of the toughest
02:28game. But, you know, they obviously rolled back the years in 2016 and beat them fantastically
02:34well in the Euros. And I'm sure they'll look to do that again. So, you know, massive to
02:40also start at home against Kazakhstan in the first game, which is a huge boost. And Ben
02:46Ami is going to have, you know, I'm sure it's going to be a sellout game and it's going
02:50to be a massive occasion for Welsh football. So, so much, so much to look forward to ahead
02:56of 2025, if you're a Welsh football fan.
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