2026 World Cup qualifying: North Macedonia v Wales
Venue: National Arena Todor Proeski, Skopje Date: Tuesday, 25 March Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Coverage: Watch on BBC One Wales, iPlayer, BBC Sport website & app, plus S4C via iPlayer. Text commentary and highlights on BBC Sport website & app. Listen live on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
Wales captain Ben Davies described head coach Craig Bellamy as “Mr Calm” after his side made hard work of their opening World Cup qualifier to beat Kazakhstan.
Wales were well below their best but won 3-1 against a stubborn Kazakhstan side, who are ranked 110th in the world, in Cardiff on Saturday.
Bellamy had a reputation for being a fiery character during a successful but often controversial playing career at clubs such as Liverpool, Newcastle United and Manchester City.
Since taking charge of Wales last year, however, the former Wales captain has shown himself to be more mature and considered.
“They made it really difficult for us, they were compact. You could see in the first half we forced a lot of balls when we didn’t really need to,” Davies, who scored Wales’ second goal, told Match of the Day Wales.
“In the second half we were much more disciplined and we got the job done, which is the most important thing. The goal [Davies scored] came at such a perfect time for us, the longer it goes on at 1-1 it makes it a bit of a tense game.
“We’ve all been in games like that where you go into it as favourites, you have a lot of expectations to walk all over a team, but you know it’s never the case. They’re a proud nation that’s out on the pitch trying to win a game just like us.
“The players were the ones that were the most frustrated at half-time, whereas Bellamy came in Mr Calm, he came in with a plan, was clear in the messaging he gave us and what he expected in the second half, he simply asked for more energy and keep doing what we’re doing.”
Next for Wales is Tuesday’s trip to North Macedonia, who started their campaign with a 3-0 win over Group J’s bottom seeds Liechtenstein.
That was North Macedonia’s sixth successive victory and, while Wales may start as slight favourites in Skopje, they will need a vast improvement on their performances against Kazakhstan to make it six points from six.
Belgium, who are yet to play, are Group J’s top seeds, with Wales second and North Macedonia third seeds, while lowly Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein complete the group.
Only the group winners will qualify automatically for the World Cup, with the runners-up entering the play-offs.
Wales have already all but guaranteed themselves a play-off place by winning their Nations League group, and could give their hopes of automatic qualification a significant early boost by beating North Macedonia.
“They’re a good team,” said Bellamy. “We have to be at our best. Do I have sleepless nights over it? No. There’s more important things.
“I like the challenge of being able to prepare a team to go to somewhere like North Macedonia. I would like the opportunity to prepare a team to go to Brazil. I want to improve and I want the players to improve.
“I don’t look at everything like living with a knife between my teeth. It’s the challenge you have to embrace and be excited about. North Macedonia leaves a lot to be excited about.”
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