INTERNATIONAL: Belarus host Belgium in Wednesday night’s World Cup qualifier, but the match isn’t being played in Belarus. It’s being hosted by the Russian city of Kazan, with sanctions having been imposed on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
It’s effectively an away-game for both teams, who spent Tuesday in training. Belarus have it all to play for, sitting in fifth spot in the qualifying group with just three points. They lost their most recent match against Wales on Sunday.
Belgium are sitting comfortably on top, a full six points clear having romped home to a 3-nil win over Czech Republic at the weekend. Their coach, Roberto Martinez, says they’ve had a busy few days:
"Three games in seven days, so we prepared always a larger squad. We always thought that the players, that they would be involved, I would say starting in the first two games, would be very difficult to be involved in the third, and we've been through every individual and we've got a very fresh squad for tomorrow, I am happy to say.”
Belgium look all but certain to qualify for Qatar 2022, with the top four teams in each group automatically qualifying for next year’s World Cup.
