Wales 2-4 Belgium: Kevin De Bruyne scores two penalties as Red Devils come from behind to take charge of World Cup qualifying Group J

Wales' automatic World Cup qualification hopes are all but over after Belgium came from behind to win a pulsating Cardiff encounter 4-2.

It looks highly likely that the play-offs will be the path Craig Bellamy's side have to take if they are to qualify for the summer tournament in North America, after VAR and some brilliant Belgium finishing took the game away from them.

Bellamy asked for intensity before kick-off after his side succumbed to England at Wembley, and a raucous Cardiff had lift-off when Joe Rodon headed in Sorba Thomas' corner after just eight minutes.

It was exactly what Wales deserved after pinning Belgium back - but VAR would have its say by giving Belgium a route back in.

Charles De Ketelaere's clip hit Ethan Ampadu's arm from close range and while it wasn't given on-field, VAR forced an on-field review, which then allowed Kevin De Bruyne to tuck a spot kick home.

Six minutes later, the tie was turned on its head when the excellent Jeremy Doku pulled the ball back for Thomas Meunier to smash a brilliant finish into the roof of Karl Darlow's net.

Belgium should have added to their lead with Wales' momentum completely gone. Leandro Trossard saw a goal-bound shot blocked by Rodon, while Arthur Theate and De Bruyne missed good chances from inside the box.

Harry Wilson, whose booking will see him miss the next qualifier in Liechtenstein, nearly put the ball into his own net in stopping a counter attack - then spurned a good chance from the other end, while Jordan James fired at Thiabut Courtois.

Doku had two good chances to get a Belgium third after half-time, but then the visitors did put the game to bed. James' needless handball from Trossard's flick gave Belgium a second penalty, with De Bruyne obliging once again.

Nathan Broadhead came off the bench to produce a smart finish ahead of seven minutes of stoppage time and create some noise from the Red Wall - but Belgium quietened Cardiff almost immediately as Trossard finished from close-range.

The result moves Belgium four points above Wales with two games remaining - and with bottom side Liechtenstein on the Red Devils' agenda next month, they will surely get the points to end Wales' top-spot hopes.

However, with North Macedonia drawing at home to Kazhakstan, second place is still in Wales' hands with two November wins needed. Third is still likely to mean a play-off spot for Bellamy's squad, so Wales have lots to play for.

Craig Bellamy: "The second one I have no complaints over. It's more shoulder than arm but you can see it. No problem with it.

"But the first one is: what are we supposed to do with our hands? Maybe we need to look at our game here as well because we have different rules here. This is not sour grapes, far from it, congratulations to Belgium,

"But I don't know what we're supposed to do. We've conceded four penalties now from handballs. The game's changed. It doesn't mean I'm a dinosaur - I haven't been finished for long! But we didn't deserve that in that time. But we have to react, they reacted better in that period.

"I was against VAR - then I liked the World Cup, but where it's gone I'm not sure. The game wasn't decided by VAR, but it didn't help."

Harry Wilson: "I haven't seen the penalty back but it looked harsh to me. Ethan was moving from side to side and it hit his hand. We went from a 1-0 lead to 2-1 down and it knocked the stuffing out of us a little bit.

"We felt we were on top, winning duels, pressing high and we felt really good. In that moment, it popped the bubble. We didn't recover as we could have from there."

Ben Davies: "It looked like a harsh penalty on the pitch. The dice didn't roll in our favour.

"It changed the momentum of things. It was difficult to react in that moment. But I'm proud of the boys, we got Belgium to show us a lot of respect which doesn't happen often. It's a big learning curve for the group."

Sky Sports News' Geraint Hughes in Cardiff: "It's one of the handballs we've seen so many times - sometimes they get given and others not, perhaps more and more we are seeing them given.

"Craig Bellamy had a lengthy chat with the fourth official and I think what I could make out was: how could it be given as the arm wasn't high and Ampadu had no idea the ball hit him? His eyes were elsewhere.

"Clearly Wales feel they've been dealt a harsh one there."

Wales head coach Craig Bellamy to BBC Sport:

"I'm definitely proud of the players. What we were looking to do we were exceptional at. It's not great because we've lost. It was just the momentum of that penalty, it gave them a little bit of a lift of course. Even the crowd died down a bit, which is normal.

"That's three penalties we have conceded now against Belgium, so we've managed to score five against them in two games and not get a point. That's hard to take.

"We wanted to win today. We needed a win. We knew the situations with the play-offs. Even though we don't mention it, we knew we had to win this one. We needed to push in the second half. With Ben going off, we lost our balance.

"To me, it's the same. Win every game. We have Liechtenstein and North Macedonia. I will review this game back, it will take a while. But there's a lot I really enjoyed. Get the next six points.

How are the stress levels? "I will find out later! I imagine very, very high. This is the honest truth, I enjoyed big parts of that game. That's what I want to be associated with. I want us to push, I want us to press, I don't want us to be counter-attacking. Not to say there's anything wrong with that, I'm not snobby. I've only seen more to be positive about."