Wales travel to Tose Proeski Arena in Skopje on Tuesday looking to build on their laboured 3-1 win over Kazakhstan in their opening World Cup qualifying game on Saturday.
Daniel James put the Welsh in front inside 10 minutes, but they were stunned when Kazakhstan scored their first competitive goal since 2023 in reply.
Kazakh captain Askhat Tagybergen just about converted a penalty in the 32nd minute. It was awarded when Islam Chesnokov’s cross hit Connor Roberts’ arm.
With the scores level at half-time, the Welsh crowd may have feared the worst. However, their doubts were soon put to bed when Ben Davies nodded home in the opening minute of the second half.
This saw Wales in the ascendancy, but some wasteful shooting and inspired goalkeeping from Kazakh goalkeeper Alexandr Zarutskiy kept the score at 2-1.
Substitute Rabbi Matondo stepped up in stoppage time to put the result beyond doubt, giving Wales a perfect start to their World Cup qualifying campaign.
NORTH MACEDONIA VS WALES PREVIEW
While Wales opened their Group J account with a win, North Macedonia were enjoying a comfortable 3-0 victory over Liechtenstein. This was North Macedonia’s sixth win in a row so they represent a significant step up in quality compared to Kazakhstan.
North Macedonia are also unbeaten in seven games at home, a run that includes impressive draws against both Italy and England.
North Macedonia’s line-up is expected to be familiar, with skipper Enis Bardhi in the midfield, Eljif Elmas providing the creativity, and Girona striker Bojan Miovski paired up front with Aleksandar Trajkovski.
Miovski and Trajkovski were both among the goals against Liechtenstein and will hope to be so again. At the other end, goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski has kept six clean sheets in a row. This is a record for North Macedonia.
Wales go into the game on a seven-game unbeaten run, with the defence having conceded just five goals since manager Craig Bellamy took over.
Another positive is that Wales have reported no new injury concerns following their win over Kazakhstan. This means that Aaron Ramsey is still out, with Harry Wilson, Ethan Ampadu, Rhys Norrington-Davies and Wes Burns also absent.
Sorba Thomas, Daniel James, David Brooks and Brennan Johnson started as an attacking foursome against Kazakhstan. This could be retained. Bellamy may opt to introduce goalscorer Matondo or Mark Harris from the bench though.
Belgium are the group’s top seeds, with Wales second and North Macedonia third. A win in Skopje would therefore throw the gauntlet down to the Belgians. Only the group winners will qualify for the 2026 World Cup, but second place will qualify for the playoffs.
It is therefore fair to expect a competitive encounter in the North Macedonian capital.
NORTH MACEDONIA VS WALES PREDICTIONS
North Macedonia Win
North Macedonia are unbeaten in seven games at home. This includes 1-1 draws against both Italy and England. They also haven’t conceded a goal on home turf for over a year.
The only time the two sides met in Skopje, North Macedonia secured a 2-1 win (in 2014). With their next home game being against group favourites Belgium, North Macedonia will know that results now really matter.
Draw
Wales are also on a strong run of form and are unbeaten in the seven games Craig Bellamy has overseen so far. This suggests both teams could cancel each other out.
Wales secured impressive draws in Iceland (2-2) and Turkiye (0-0) the last two times they were on their travels.
Wales Win
The Welsh are certainly flying high right now and secured a strong win in Montenegro in the Nations League last September. With confidence buoyant under Bellamy, North Macedonia could succumb to a rare home defeat.
NORTH MACEDONIA VS WALES – BETTING TIPS
Wales to Win
Despite North Macedonia’s strong home record, I fancy Bellamy’s rejuvenated Welsh side to do the business. They know that beating North Macedonia away will lay down a huge marker in Group J.
Over 2.5 Goals
Wales have scored 12 goals in Bellamy’s seven matches in charge, with over 2.5 goals being seen in four of them. North Macedonia have scored 13 goals in seven games suggesting a high goal tally is likely here. The only time the two sides met in Skopje, there were three goals.
NORTH MACEDONIA VS WALES – HEAD-TO-HEAD AND KEY STATS
- North Macedonia and Wales have played each other twice, with both teams having one win apiece.
- North Macedonia have won their last six games – and have not conceded in the process.
- North Macedonia have scored 13 goals in their last seven games.
- North Macedonia are unbeaten in seven games at home.
- Wales are on a seven-match unbeaten run (W4, D3) since Craig Bellamy took over, scoring 12 times.
- Wales are unbeaten in their last three away games (W1, D2).
