Euro 2016: Wales 'would beat' class of 1993 - Mark Aizlewood

Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey tussles with Belgium's Marouane Fellaini during the 0-0 draw in November 2014

Former Wales defender Mark Aizlewood believes that the present team is better than the one that almost qualified for the World Cup in 1994.

Wales are bidding to qualify for Euro 2016 and face a crucial Group B game against Belgium in Cardiff on Friday.

Aizlewood was part of the last Wales team to beat Belgium in 1993 thanks to goals from Ryan Giggs and Ian Rush.

"The present team would have beaten our team because they've got far more quality," Aizlewood said.

"Don't get me wrong, people like Ian Rush, Dean Saunders and Ryan Giggs would have starred in today's generation, but people like me probably wouldn't have."

Belgium lead Group B, with Wales second on goal difference only, and the two sides meet at the Cardiff City Stadium for a match that will have a huge bearing on who reaches the finals in France.

Wales have drawn their last two matches against Belgium, including a 0-0 result away to the Group B favourites in Brussels last November, but have not beaten the Red Devils since that game in 1993.

That game at the old National Stadium in Cardiff still brings back fond memories for Aizlewood, who was a Bristol City player at the time.

"I was a boy from a council house in Newport finding himself on the same pitch as world superstars like Ian Rush, Mark Hughes and Ryan Giggs," Aizlewood added,

"So my memories of that time are fantastic and nobody can take them away from me.

"My instructions from [former Wales boss] Terry Yorath were simple - When I got the ball I had to pass it to Giggs, Rush, Saunders or Hughes where the quality was."

Giggs scored his first international goal that night with a curling free-kick from 25 yards.

"The thing about it was Ryan had practiced free-kicks all week in training and kept putting them over the bar," said the 55-year-old Carmarthen Town manager.

"I was thinking to myself what's all the fuss about this kid? Eighteen minutes into the game he put a free-kick in the top corner. That's what all the fuss was about!"

Aizlewood does not see any reason why Chris Coleman's current crop cannot claim all three points on Friday evening.

"When you've got the people of the quality of Gareth Bale then you've got a chance," Aizlewood added.

"He can win any game on his own. If the rest of the team are set up right and they defend soundly then they've got a chance against anybody."