Wales delivered a breathtaking attacking masterclass in Cardiff, producing the most complete performance of Craig Bellamy’s tenure as they crushed North Macedonia 7–1 and secured home advantage for their World Cup play-off semi-final.
With automatic qualification already out of reach — Belgium hammered Liechtenstein 7–0 to seal top spot in Group J — Wales knew a win would guarantee second place and a more favourable draw, avoiding a tough away tie against teams such as Italy.
00:00Wales delivered a breathtaking attacking masterclass in Cardiff, producing the most complete performance of Craig Bellamy's tenure as they crushed North Macedonia 7-1 and secured home advantage for their World Cup play-off semi-final.
00:15With automatic qualification already out of reach, Belgium hammered Lichtenstein 7-0 to steal top spot in Group J. Wales knew a win would guarantee second place and a more favourable draw, avoiding a tough away tie against teams such as Italy.
00:32Harry Wilson captaining the side opened the scoring with a penalty after David Brooks was tripped by Andrei Stoyshev before Brooks volleyed himself from a Brennan Johnsons cross.
00:43North Macedonia briefly pulled one back, but Johnson immediately restored Wales' two-goal lead with a deflected 20-yard strike.
00:52Remarkably, North Macedonia conceded as many goals in 19 minutes as they had in their previous seven qualifiers.
01:00The second half showcased Wales at their creative peak. Johnson and Wilson combined to find Wilson's back heel, releasing Dan James, who slotted home to make it 4-1.
01:10Wilson then curled in a 25-yard free kick and completed his hat-trick with a second penalty, becoming the first Welshman since Gareth Bale in 2021 to score three in a game.
01:20The route was sealed in the 88th minute when debutant Isaac Davis flicked on a corner for Nathan Broadhead to score, giving Wales seven goals in a game for the first time since 1978.
01:32From the opening whistle, Wales' forwards tore into their previously solid opponents.
01:38Johnson recalled after missing the previous two games was electric.
01:42Brooks, James and Wilson combined with fluency pressing relentlessly and moving the ball quickly.
01:48The bigger challenges lie ahead. Wales are still two wins away from reaching the World Cup.
01:53But having qualified for Qatar 2022 via this same route, they have a dazzling display when it mattered most.
02:00And Benhamie Saib will take enormous confidence from Cardiff.
02:05This was more than a statement.
02:06It was a blueprint of what Wales can achieve when their talent, purpose and style come together perfectly.
02:12Theningen for passing of the fact is pretty much the same now that they are doing well because they are standing in the home.
02:16And they are lieged with the same conditions as whether they can achieve some arguments in their life that they're making music in for the first time.
02:20So it's quite simply because they have an actual вкус of research.
02:22And they're all played with their thoughts in their own mind as well as well as they get the same計画.
02:24So that's the same thing, if you have any questions from the first time.
02:26And if you are thinking about how to achieve this, then you have to achieve the same goal as well as a third time.
02:27But you have to try to achieve your statement from the beginning of the next year.
02:28So I have to have an impact on the lasting impact, as well as it's possible against you can see the weight on the same goal of the hand.
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