Wales has advanced to the semifinals of a major tournament for the first time with a come-from-behind 3-1 victory Friday night over Belgium, which paid dearly for its careless play on defense.

With this victory, Wales is the last National Team from the United Kingdom remaining in the Euro 2016 tournament.

Various football analysts had predicted an early “Brexit,” for England, Northern Ireland and Wales; nonetheless, the three teams made it past the group stage to the knockout round, but only Wales advanced to the quarterfinals.

The Belgians grabbed the early lead in this Euro 2016 quarterfinal with a long-distance strike off the foot of Radja Nainggolan in the 12th minute, but the Red Devils’ porous defense allowed Ashley Williams to score the equalizer at the half-hour mark of the contest at Pierre-Mauroy Stadium in the northern city of Lille.

Wales then took the lead 10 minutes into the second half on a goal by Hal Robson-Kanu before Sam Vokes put the icing on the British squad’s victory – its biggest in nearly 60 years – shortly before the end of regulation.

The contest featured two of soccer’s biggest stars in Belgium’s Eden Hazard and Welshman Gareth Bale, but the Chelsea attacking midfielder was hampered by a leg injury and largely invisible while the Real Madrid winger also failed to make a big impact.

Belgium nearly kicked off the scoring in the sixth minute, when Romelu Lukaku, Thomas Meunier and Hazard all squandered chances at point-blank range.

But six minutes later, Nainggolan, a Roma midfielder with a blonde mohawk, tattoos on his neck and a smoking habit tolerated by head coach Marc Wilmots, unloaded a remarkable blast from 25 meters out past the diving Welsh net minder Wayne Hennessey.

Wales, however, came storming back before the half-hour mark, nearly scoring on a Neil Taylor strike off an Aaron Ramsey cross that goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois brilliantly saved.

A few minutes later, however, Ramsey – who has played a role in four of his squad’s last six goals – found Williams unmarked in the area on a corner kick and the Dragons’ captain headed the ball home.

Belgium appeared to have the edge in the early part of the second half but more defensive lapses reared their ugly head in the 55th minute, when some nifty dribbling by Robson-Kanu put three defenders out of position and set up a left footed blast from just outside the six-yard box.

One last goal on a header by Vokes, who had entered the game in the 80th minute and scored five minutes later, sealed the victory.

Wales, whose last major soccer feat was a quarterfinal berth at the 1958 World Cup, will next take on Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal in the Euro 2016 semifinals on July 6 in Lyon.

But it will have to make do in that match without Ramsey, who picked up his second booking of the tournament late in Friday’s contest. EFE

Football fans in Costa Rica are familiar with the Wales National Team. In 2012, Costa Rica was invited to play a special match in memory of Welsh football legend Gary Speed, who passed away at the age of 42.

Gary Speed played his first international match against Costa Rica at the age of 22. La Sele felt honored to be invited to this memorial, and the match was played at Cardiff City Stadium. Costa Rica won with a single goal by Joel Campbell in a very tight match.

Offshore sportsbooks based in Costa Rica are not seeing too many bets placed on Wales to be the outright Euro 2016 champion. Leading pay-per-head services provider IDSca.com reports that France and Germany are still favorites while Wales is a 12/1 underdog.

Wire content by Agencia EFE. Lede: Lille, France, Jul 1