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World Cup Qualifier: Wales v North Macedonia BBC Radio Wales This video can not be played Wales hammer North Macedonia in final group game in World Cup qualifying to seal second place in Group J Watch/listen live via buttons on this page Wales needed win to finish second and secure home advantage in play-off semi-final in March Danny Ward, Ben Davies, Aaron Ramsey and Kieffer Moore among injured Wales absentees, while Ethan Ampadu and Jordan James are suspended Harry Wilson scores hat-trick as he captains Wales for first time David Brooks wins penalty for Wilson opener, then doubles lead with neat finish only for North Macedonia to pull a goal back inside two minutes through Bojan Miovski Brennan Johnson restores Wales' two-goal lead before half-time as he cuts in from left and finds top corner Daniel James steers home fine fourth goal before Wilson's brilliant free-kick makes it 5-1 Wilson wins and converts second penalty and Nathan Broadhead adds late seventh goal on extraordinary night Michael Pearlman FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Wales forward Brennan Johnson speaking to BBC Match of the Day Wales: "A really good performance. I think we just showed completely what we're all about tonight. A great attacking showcase. "Coming into the game, on paper it's a difficult game, they (North Macedonia) had a lot to play for. "Individual performances, as a collective as well, I thought we were way too much for them. " On his goal: "I think it's right at the top, I enjoyed it a lot, especially with it being for Wales as well. So it's pretty special. " A point to prove? "I think I always feel like I have a point to prove. I'm someone who can be quite tough on himself. "I just always want to go out and perform my best. "I really enjoyed today, playing with the lads was really enjoyable. I'm so glad the game went how it did. " Home advantage in the play-off semi-finals? "It means a lot. You only have to look at the last two play-offs, all at home and I think it made a massive impact on the games. "We won both semi-finals and lost out on penalties to Poland. "It's something that was definitely mentioned going into the game. We already had the play-offs secured but we wanted the home draw. " FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Joe Ledley Former Wales midfielder on Match of the Day Wales Brennan Johnson had a real spring in his step. That's what we want to see in every international. FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Ashley Williams Former Wales defender on BBC Match of the Day Wales From the off Brennan Johnson looked a lot more positive than he has done recently. You felt like he needed a big moment. People were questioning whether he should start and I think he answered that today. He can't help the price-tag that's on his head. That's irrelevant. You could see in the celebration that the goal meant a lot to him. FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Mark Poyser BBC Radio Wales commentator at Cardiff City Stadium You

can use whatever superlative you want to describe that performance. Wales

delivered when it really mattered and in some style. Harry

Wilson will take the headlines with his hat-trick as captain, but this was a

team performance and without question the best under Craig Bellamy - the most

emphatic for years. They

score seven for the first time since beating Malta 7-0, 47 years ago. The

momentum this will give Wales will make them an opponent to be feared in the

play-offs, especially here at the Cardiff City Stadium. Fans

leaving the stadium with hugging each other as they danced towards the exit now

eagerly anticipating Thursday’s draw. This

is a performance that has made a nation dare to dream again. FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Ashley Williams Former Wales defender on BBC Match of the Day Wales Harry Wilson was excellent. This is the best I have seen him play. The team needed him tonight, the country needed him and he just had that look in his eye. I think he enjoyed being the captain. There are some nights over your career you remember, and this will be one of those for him. FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Danny Gabbidon Former Wales defender on BBC Radio Wales Craig Bellamy has been waiting for this. There have been some good performances, some indifferent performances, but that was what Craig Bellamy is all about. That's the type of performance he wants to see from his team. To a man, absolutely outstanding and the manager deserves a lot of credit. FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Wales' Harry Wilson speaking to BBC Match of the Day Wales: "An amazing night for me, but tonight was about the team. "We wanted to show how good a team we are. "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 tonight 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. "From the get-go we were really good, I thought we started well and had them under pressure. "We conceded a goal that we're not happy with, but I thought our reaction to that was fantastic. "Second half, we had complete control and managed to get a few more. " On walking out with his son: "It was amazing. He's at the age now where he can walk out with me. "He loves his football, he loves watching it with me at home. "Being away from the family for the 10 or 11 days in camp can be tough, but tonight made up for that. " FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Robert Earnshaw Former Wales striker on BBC Match of the Day Wales Josh Sheehan more than handled everything tonight. He was excellent. I have got to say Liam Cullen as well was brilliant, attacking and defending. Harry Wilson put on a show, David Brooks was brilliant, Dan James was brilliant, Brennan Johnson was brilliant. We talk about can you deliver in the big moments. They delivered in the big moments. FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Joe Ledley Former Wales midfielder on Match of the Day Wales There was pressure on the players to go out and perform. This bunch of lads have been fantastic under Craig Bellamy. They won their Nations League group and could have won this group if certain things had gone their way. FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Ashley Williams Former Wales defender on BBC Match of the Day Wales North Macedonia couldn't get near a Welsh player tonight. That's because of he shape Wales played and the way they executed things tonight. FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Robert Earnshaw Former Wales striker on BBC Match of the Day Wales I loved that. We haven't really seen Wales under Craig Bellamy click for a full 90 minutes. Tonight we saw that. Brilliant all over the pitch. Outstanding, incredible. FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Joe Ledley Former Wales midfielder on Match of the Day Wales It could have been more than seven, that's how good Wales were. That's the best Wales performance I have seen for years. FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Nathan Blake Former Wales striker on BBC Radio Wales Absolutely unbelievable We've seen the best of Wales. It's a depleted squad, we've seen a front four that was untouchable and unplayable tonight. We've seen individual brilliance and we've seen team brilliance. It's an all-round performance. FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Football, there is just nothing like it. I'm watching Wales do a lap of honour after the performance of their lives. My colleague Chris Wathan is trying to do the permutations, he's counting on his fingers, we will bring you all the latest on that and the reaction from the Wales camp. Stick with us. FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Nia Jones Former Wales international on Match of the Day Wales It's almost like this performance has been bubbling away in the background and waiting to come up. The other thing that excites me is the competition for places, when you consider who was not playing tonight. FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Ashley Williams Former Wales defender on BBC Match of the Day Wales That must be one of the greatest nights in Welsh football history. That's something special. Nearly a perfect performance apart from that one goal against. FT: Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Danny Gabbidon Former Wales defender on BBC Radio Wales The confidence is just oozing out of the team. North Macedonia have just been ripped apart. This has been a Premier League kind of tempo from us tonight, and they've just not been able to deal with it. Wales 7-1 North Macedonia The referee calls time on this one without any injury time. An absolutely incredible Wales performance, one for the ages. Wales 7-1 North Macedonia We think this is the first time Wales have scored seven goals since 1978. Wales 7-1 North Macedonia Wales' last two hat-tricks were scored by Gareth Bale, against Belarus in 2021 and China in 2018. The last player other than Bale to hit three in a game for the men's side was Rob Earnshaw against Scotland all the way back in 2004. What a night for Harry Wilson who joins a pretty exclusive club! Harry Wilson is the first Welshman to score a hat-trick for Wales since Gareth Bale against Belarus in 2021 A Harry Wilson hat-trick helped Wales serve up an attacking masterclass as stylish as it was devastating to demolish North Macedonia in their final World Cup qualifying group game and secure home advantage for their play-off semi-final. With their hopes of qualifying automatically already effectively over, Wales at least had the consolation prize of a more favourable draw for the March play-offs, and they seized their opportunity by producing the best performance of head coach Craig Bellamy's tenure. Captain for the night Wilson put them ahead with a penalty after David Brooks was tripped, before Brooks himself applied a fine first-time finish to Brennan Johnson's cross. Wales let North Macedonia back into the tie less than two minutes later as a defensive lapse allowed Rangers striker Bojan Miovski to score, only for Johnson to rifle a 20-yard shot into the top corner - via a deflection - to restore his team's two goal-lead. In the space of 19 first-half minutes, North Macedonia had conceded as many goals as they had done in their previous seven games of this campaign. They fell further behind after the interval to the goal of the night as Johnson combined with Wilson, whose backheel teed up Daniel James to round off a dazzling team move. That goal felt like a snapshot of Wales' entire performance, a highpoint of Bellamy's reign; the former captain's ambitious vision for his team's style of play coming together on the night when it mattered most. Wilson curled in a beautiful free-kick from 25 yards before scoring his second penalty to become the first Welshman to score a hat-trick since Gareth Bale in 2021. The hosts were not quite done yet as they made it seven goals in one game for the first time in 47 years with Nathan Broadhead tapping in from debutant Isaak Davies' flick-on to complete the rout at a joyous Cardiff City Stadium. There are more important games to come, of course, with Wales still two wins from next year's World Cup. But having qualified for the 2022 edition of the tournament via the same play-off route, Wales will take great encouragement from this display as they dream of reaching the World Cup for only a third time in their history. More to follow. Last Updated 18th November 2025 at 21: 48 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Craig Bellamy Formation: 4 - 1 - 4 - 1 Manager: Blagoja Milevski Formation: 5 - 3 - 2 Manager: Craig Bellamy Formation: 4 - 1 - 4 - 1 Manager: Blagoja Milevski Formation: 5 - 3 - 2 To watch and listen, you need to enable Java Script in your browser. 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