Wales saved their best until last, securing the best available berth in the World Cup playoffs with an emphatic demolition of North Macedonia that should worry any visitor to Cardiff next March. The performance and result understandably left Craig Bellamy reaching for superlatives.
“I said to the players at the end, I am not a perfect person, I haven’t come across anyone who is,” the Wales head coach said. “But maybe I take a little bit of that back because that was as close to a perfect performance as I’ve seen. That was incredible.” He was not exaggerating.
Wales had lost experienced leaders to injury, their entire first‑choice central midfield was missing through suspension, but those available to Bellamy stepped up to deliver a complete and clinical team display. Harry Wilson excelled as he captained his country for the first time, capping a proud night with a hat-trick. Brennan Johnson, David Brooks, Dan James and Neco Williams also showed the Premier League quality that made the difference.
North Macedonia arrived in Cardiff unbeaten in the qualifying campaign and having conceded three goals in total, including in two games against group-winners Belgium. They were torn apart as Bellamy’s side leapfrogged them into second place in Group J. A more favourable playoff draw is the prize. Wales were guaranteed a playoff courtesy of winning their Nations League group but victory ensured they will have a home semi-final in March and should avoid a top-ranked opponent in Thursday’s draw.
Wales’s first seven-goal haul in 47 years was reward for individual and collective excellence, but also Bellamy’s bravery. His response to a lengthy absentee list was to flood his forward line and deploy Joshua Sheehan as a lone holding midfielder. Boldness paid dividends. “We didn’t play with a forward, we had three 10s,” he said. “But they were in the position where you drag someone out and someone runs, then the wide players were connected as well. We were so clean with the ball and that allows you to have good chances. Today was one of those days where we are able to take them as well.”
The hosts set a dominant, positive tone from the off. James was at the heart of proceedings and released Brooks inside the area with a beautifully weighted pass. The Bournemouth winger appeared to be clipped from behind by Andrej Stojchevski and the Dutch referee, Danny Makkelie, immediately pointed to the spot. It looked a clear penalty in real time, debatable after numerous replays. Few inside the Cardiff City Stadium cared. The penalty stood and Wilson drove the spot-kick past Stole Dimitrievski’s left hand into the bottom corner.
Bellamy’s side maintained the intensity and doubled their lead within three minutes. Jay Dasilva released Johnson down the left and the Tottenham forward swept over a first-time cross for Brooks to steer an excellent finish beyond Dimitrievski. Brooks’s effort, into the ground and over the keeper’s grasp, took a slight deflection off Stojchevski but was a difficult attempt made to look routine.
Wales were in dreamland, but brought fleetingly back down to earth when North Macedonia reduced the deficit too easily. Darko Velkovski, advancing out of central defence, stepped around Wilson and Brooks before splitting the defence with a pass into Bojan Miovski. As the striker ran through on goal, Karl Darlow slipped on a surface dampened by the Cardiff rain. Miovski’s low finish met no resistance.
North Macedonia’s consolation flattered them. Wales’s reaction saw to that. Wilson slipped in Williams brilliantly but the Nottingham Forest full-back’s effort was tipped on to a post by Dimitrievski. A stunning effort from Johnson restored the hosts’ two-goal advantage before the break, however. Receiving Dasilva’s pass out on the left, Johnson exploded between three white shirts to beat the visiting keeper with an angled drive into the top corner.
Number four arrived courtesy of a flowing team move that started in defence and invited Brooks to run at the North Macedonian backline. He dinked a pass into Wilson, who met it with a delightful back-heel into James, and he polished his evening’s excellent work with a clinical finish.
Wilson was not finished there. Having been tripped 25 yards from goal, he swept the resulting free-kick high into the goal from a difficult angle. Another superb strike. Wilson was also fouled for number six from the penalty spot, which he drove into the opposite corner to his first, before Nathan Broadhead added a late seventh when tapping in from fellow substitute Isaak Davies’s header. A repeat in the March semi-final and Wales can start dreaming of a third World Cup finals appearance.
