Wales vs Belarus: World Cup qualifying preview, team news, stats, live on Sky Sports

Team news and stats ahead of Wales vs Belarus in Group E of UEFA World Cup qualifying on Saturday, live on Sky Sports (kick-off: 7.45pm).

Team news

Gareth Bale has won his fitness battle and is ready to crown his "incredible journey" with a 100th Wales cap on Saturday.

Bale, who has recovered from a hamstring tear, became Wales' youngest ever player in May 2006 when making his debut in a friendly against Trinidad & Tobago at the tender age of 16 years and 315 days.

Over 15 years on and Bale will become the second Welshman after Chris Gunter to reach the three-figure milestone.

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"It has been an incredible journey and one that started very young," said Bale, Wales' record scorer with 36 goals.

"To get 100 caps will personally be an incredible achievement and one you never think about when you start out.

"We have been through the lows when I first joined to grow Welsh football, to try to put it on the right path and inspire the generations coming through.

"I think even now the youngsters have watched us come from a lower-ranked team to a higher-ranked team. It has given them a drive to push to get better as we have been that inspiration through the years. We have all bought into it - the fans, the team, the staff - and every manager has bought in to the same philosophy that we want to push Welsh football
as far as we can."

Kieffer Moore is suspended so Harry Wilson and Dan James may shoulder the attacking responsibility along with Bale.

Belarus will be without Dinamo Minsk midfielder Artem Bykov, who serves a ban of his own.

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• World Cup Qualifiers live on Sky
• World Cup Qualifying fixtures
• World Cup Euro Qualifiers: Who's through, who needs what?

What do Wales need to qualify?

Spain's 1-0 win in Greece on Thursday confirmed Wales' play-off place as a result of their Nations League standing.

It is only the second time Wales have reached a World Cup play-off, having beaten Israel 4-0 on aggregate to reach the 1958 finals in Sweden.

Four points would be enough to secure second place in Group E and home advantage in their play-off semi-final.

Victory over Belarus would see them leapfrog the Czech Republic - who have played a game more - but if they failed to finish second, they would have that play-off security - albeit with a potentially harder route as an unseeded team.

"It feels very good and takes the pressure off a little bit," said Page. "It is great for the supporters to know that we have a play-off.

"At the moment we have two games left and an opportunity to give us a more favourable tie in a play-off.

"Our full aim is on that. We want to finish second and win both games. We want to build that momentum and take it into March."

Hennessey: Bale in 'good shape' ahead of 100th cap

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Gareth Bale is in "good shape" and ready to boost Wales' World Cup qualifying hopes by winning his 100th cap on Saturday, says goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey.

Real Madrid forward Bale has not played since September 8 when making his 99th appearance in a goalless draw with Estonia in Cardiff.

Bale tore his hamstring a few days after that qualifier, but he has reported for international duty ahead of closing World Cup qualifiers against Belarus and Belgium and trained with the Wales squad on Tuesday.

How to follow

Wales vs Belarus will be shown live on Sky Sports Football from 7pm; kick-off 7.45pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

Opta facts

• Wales have won five of their six matches against Belarus (L1), winning 3-2 in September with Gareth Bale scoring a hat-trick in Kazan.
• Belarus' only victory over Wales came back in September 2000 in Minsk in a World Cup qualifier, winning 2-1 with Gary Speed scoring a 90th minute consolation goal for the Welsh.
• Wales have scored a winning goal in the final 10 minutes of three of their six games against Belarus: Kit Symons in the 84th minute (October 1998, EURO qualifier), Ryan Giggs in the 86th minute (September 1999, EURO qualifier) and Gareth Bale in the 90th minute (September 2021, World Cup qualifier).
• After winning their opening World Cup 2022 qualifier against Estonia, Belarus have lost their last six by an aggregate score of 17-2.
• Wales have only lost one of their last 17 home matches in qualifying for major tournaments (EUROs/World Cup), a 1-0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland in October 2017. They haven't conceded more than once in any of those 17 games, shipping just six overall.
• Belarus have lost their last 14 away World Cup qualifiers since winning 5-1 in Kazakhstan in April 2009. Among European nations, only San Marino (25) are on a longer away losing run in World Cup qualifiers than the Belarussians.
• Since his debut for Wales in September 2019, striker Kieffer Moore is the top scorer for the Welsh national team with seven goals - he has also received nine yellow cards, four more than any other Wales player.
• Belarus' Vitali Lisakovich has been directly involved in four of their six goals in this World Cup qualifying campaign (3 goals, 1 assist) and has had the most shots (9), created the most chances (8) and played the most passes into the box (26) of any Belarus player so far.

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