Belgium seeks winning start

The Belgians have not reached the finals of a major tournament for 10 years but now boast one of the most exciting young squads in the European game.

With the likes of Vincent Kompany, Thomas Vermaelen, Marouane Fellaini, Mousa Dembele and Eden Hazard now major players in England's top flight, Belgium is joint favourite to win Group A in the race for Brazil 2014 places.

Other leading Premier League names in the squad for Friday's (Saturday morning AEST) opening qualifier at the Cardiff City Stadium include Simon Mignolet, Jan Vertonghen, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas, while Axel Witsel has just left Benfica for Zenit Saint Petersburg for £32 million ($50 million).

Wales, which hasn't competed in the World Cup finals since 1958, also has a squad containing greater top-flight experience than in recent years but has been hit by injuries ahead of Chris Coleman's first competitive campaign.

Kompany, the Belgium captain and Manchester City defensive linchpin, said: "Wales have got a lot of hope in their team and the hope people in Belgium now have to qualify for the World Cup is unreal.

"It does bring pressure with it but we need to be able to deal with it."

Saturday morning's (AEST) other match in a tough-looking Group A sees the other most-fancied side, Croatia, host Macedonia in Zagreb.

The Croats performed impressively at EURO 2012, beating the Republic of Ireland, holding Italy to a draw and narrowly losing to eventual winners Spain.

It is now moving into a new era under recently appointed coach Igor Stimac after six years of progress with Slaven Bilic at the helm.

"I am convinced I will continue this level of success," former Derby and West Ham defender Stimac said of his predecessor.

"Moreover, I will raise the quality of play. I am happy to have this opportunity to prove myself to those people who are sceptical about my abilities and don't believe in me."

Macedonia has never qualified for a major tournament and faces a tough task at the Maksimir Stadium, although it is lifted by a first win in seven in last month's friendly against Lithuania.

The countries met in qualification for EURO 2008 with the home sides winning the encounters.

The other team considered the main contender in the group, Serbia, takes on Scotland at Hampden Park on Saturday (Sunday morning AEST).

The Serbs are also playing competitively for the first time under a new coach in Sinisa Mihajlovic, the former Fiorentina boss.

He has a squad that looks particularly strong in defence, even after the retirement from international duty of Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic.

Lyon's Milan Bisevac, Neven Subotic of Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic and Manchester City pair Aleksandar Kolarov and Matija Nastasic remain in the ranks.

The clash in Glasgow will be the first meeting between the two countries.