Euro 2016: Belgium will be favourites against Wales - Chris Coleman
Last updated on .From the section Welsh
| Wales v Belgium |
|---|
| Date: Friday, 1 July Venue: Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille Kick-off: 20:00 BST |
| Coverage: Live BBC One, BBC Radio Wales and text commentary online & BBC Sport app |
Manager Chris Coleman says Wales will be the underdogs when they face Belgium in the quarter-finals of the European Championships in Lille on Friday.
Belgium, second in the Fifa world rankings, secured their place in the last eight with a 4-0 win over Hungary.
They played Wales both in 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016 qualifying and have not won any of their last three meetings.
"People will expect Belgium to win," Coleman said.
"They had some criticism coming into the tournament and they lost the first game.
"But if you have a squad with that quality then any team you play against, apart from maybe two of three, Belgium are favourites."
Tottenham's Toby Alderweireld headed Belgium ahead against Hungary and Michu Batshuayi made it 2-0 when he tapped in.
Eden Hazard of Chelsea scored a superb goal in the 80th minute before Yannick Carrasco fired in the fourth in stoppage time in Toulouse.
Coleman's side finished Group B runners-up to Belgium in Euro 2016 qualification.
They held Marc Wilmot's side to a 0-0 draw in Brussels in November 2014 before Gareth Bale's goal secured a 1-0 win at Cardiff City Stadium in June 2015.
"We have dealt with it before and we will be up against it," Coleman added.
"We have had to face that quality as they are a top team. We will be the underdogs, but we won't be fearing Belgium.
"When teams go for us and play open, we can do a lot of damage."
Wales secured their spot in the Euro 2016 quarter-finals as Gareth McAuley's own goal gave them a 1-0 victory over Northern Ireland in a tense last-16 encounter.
Belgium's victory over Hungary in the last-16 came after they finished second in Group D behind Italy, a side they lost 2-0 to in their opening game.
But back-to-back wins over the Republic of Ireland and Sweden secured Belgium's place in the knockout stages.
Defender James Chester, one of Wales' stand out players at Euro 2016, says the pressure will be on Belgium.
"We've played a lot against Belgium recently and fared quite well," West Bromwich Albion's Chester said.
"The pressure would be on them massively. I don't think we've felt too much pressure.
"We're here to enjoy ourselves and show what Welsh football is about and I think we're doing that."
Former Wales captain Kevin Ratcliffe, part of BBC Wales' commentary team in France, believes Belgium would rather play anyone else but Wales.
"They've got to be a little bit wary of us because their record against us is not too good in the last year or two," Ratcliffe said.
"I know they've got some top quality players playing in the Premier League but it doesn't frighten me whatsoever because of what we've done to them in the past."