Giant rat brings Wales v Belgium match to a halt as fans call it ‘best part’ | Football | Sport

The World Cup qualifying match between Wales and Belgium was briefly interrupted when an unexpected mouse wandered onto the pitch at Cardiff City Stadium.

While Craig Bellamy’s team fell 2-1 behind in the 66th minute, the match was interrupted due to a head injury to one of the Belgian players.

But while the players had to wait for a rodent to leave the pitch before the match restarted, Welsh fans seized the opportunity to enjoy a moment of comedy in a tough 2026 World Cup qualifying match.

Substitute Brennan Johnson had to remove himself from the pitch as the mouse ran towards the camera operator on the touchline.

“I’ve seen it all. Brennan Johnson escorts a mouse off the field,” said one spectator.

“Joe Rodent” joked another, a pun on the name of Welsh and Leeds United defender Joe Rodon, who scored the game’s opening goal.

“The mouse was the best part of this game (in my opinion),” another fan commented on social media, moments before Wales fell two goals behind after Kevin De Bruyne’s penalty.

“There’s no way I could have watched Brennan Johnson chase a mouse around the field,” said another stunned viewer.

Rodon put Wales ahead early in the match, but the visitors scored twice before half-time to leave Wales facing a significant challenge.

De Bruyne further complicated Bellamy’s line-up by scoring his second penalty of the night with just 15 minutes remaining.

However, the one-sided game of cat and mouse eventually came to a seemingly inevitable conclusion and Belgium won the match 4-2.

This defeat significantly destroys Wales’ hopes of automatic qualification for next year, leaving them to rely on other teams’ results to get out of the hole.