Bellamy hails Wales' 'close to perfect performance' in rout of North Macedonia

Craig Bellamy says Wales' stunning 7-1 win over North Macedonia "was as close to the perfect performance as I have seen" as his team booked a World Cup play-off spot.

Wales and North Macedonia went into their final qualifying clash level on 13 points, knowing that top spot in Group J was out of their reach, with Belgium securing automatic qualification for next year's tournament.

But Bellamy’s side made sure they kept their World Cup hopes alive as they were led by a hat-trick from Harry Wilson.

He opened the scoring from the penalty spot before David Brooks quickly added a second, but North Macedonia cut the deficit through Bojan Miovski.

However, Wales responded brilliantly, with Brennan Johnson and Dan James scoring before Wilson finished off his hat-trick, and Nathan Broadhead also got on the scoresheet late on.

Wales scored 7+ goals in a match for only the fifth time in their history and for the first time since October 1978 – a 7-0 victory against Malta in a European Championships qualifier.

"I really enjoyed it. I spoke to the players in the meeting before we came here, and said we could really enjoy this, there could be something in this for us, the way they play and how we are able to combat that," Bellamy told BBC Match of the Day Wales.

"I said to them at the end, I am not a perfect person, I haven't come across anyone who is. But maybe I take a little bit of that back, because that was as close to the perfect performance as I have seen. That was incredible.

"The way we were able to use the ball, our timing. We didn't play with a forward, we had three [number] 10s. But they were in the position where you drag someone out, and someone runs, then the wide players were connected with it as well.

"We were just so clean with the ball, and that allows you to have good chances. It was one of those days where we are able to take them as well."

England and Scotland automatically qualified for next year’s World Cup, with the latter securing their berth for the first time in 28 years, and Bellamy wants that to serve as a motivation for Wales to join them. 

"We'll adapt [for the play-offs]," he added. "There are tricky teams still left in it.

"Big congratulations to Scotland tonight as well. I love seeing the home nations do well, I really do.

"That's given us more incentive. For me personally, I want to be joining them, so hopefully, we can do that."

Since the beginning of 2024, Wilson has been involved in 13 goals (nine goals, four assists) for Wales, six more than any other player for the nation.

His hat-trick brought him to 18 goals for his country, moving him to eighth on the all-time scorers list; he is now just one behind current boss Bellamy.

"We wanted to show how good a team we are," Wilson told BBC Match of the Day Wales.

"The team were disappointed after the Liechtenstein game – even though we dominated the game, it would have been nice to score a few more goals.

"We were determined to go out there and show people that we can not only keep possession, but we can also punish teams as well.

"For me personally, it was amazing to get the hat-trick, and I'm delighted for the other boys to get their goals as well."