North Macedonia v Wales: World Cup 2026 qualifier - live

1m ago 16.38 EDT HALF TIME: North Macedonia 0-0 Wales Sorba Thomas should have scored. Other than that, nothing much has happened in front of goal. It’s still been a decent-enough watch, though. Share

3m ago 16.37 EDT 45 min +4: A Wales corner from the right. Thomas sends it in. The hosts clear. Then Sheehan skittles Elmas from behind. No booking for Sheehan, but there is one for North Macedonia coach Blagoja Milevski, who is incandescent at this state of affairs. Share

5m ago 16.34 EDT 45 min +2: In the second of four additional minutes, Serafimov is booked for a late rugby-style challenge on Johnson. He’ll miss North Macedonia’s game with Belgium. Share

7m ago 16.32 EDT 45 min: Dimitrievski prepares to send a drop-kick upfield. Johnson tries to put him off. The keeper tells Johnson to bugger off. Johnson refuses. A stand-off. Then the referee arrives to offer Johnson some beneficial advice. Johnson smiles cheekily and jogs away. Dimitrievski launches it. What a lot of fuss over the square root of nowt. Share

10m ago 16.30 EDT 44 min: Kostadinov comes sliding in late on Jordan James. Another possible booking, but the ref is in a laissez-faire mood tonight. Share

11m ago 16.29 EDT 42 min: Dan James sashays in from the right and tries to ping Johnson free with one of those reverse passes down the channel. The pass doesn’t come off, but clanks off a nearby defender and nearly sits up invitingly. James can’t get there in time for a shot, before the ball’s hoicked clear. Share

12m ago 16.27 EDT 40 min: Elmas jinks down the left and ends an elegant slalom by winning a corner. The set post leads to a panicked game of head tennis in the Wales six-yard box. Jordan James is forced to eyebrow behind. Corner number two coming in from the left … and it nearly leads to something special, Bardhi and Alioski attempting the old David Beckham / Paul Scholes trick. Bardhi cuts the corner back but Alioski can only volley wildly over the bar. Still, full marks for ambition, as the hosts finally spring into action. Share

16m ago 16.24 EDT 38 min: Sheehan belts a long-distance shot straight down Dimitrievski’s throat. Wales definitely on top now. Share

16m ago 16.24 EDT 37 min: Better from Thomas, this, as he zips down the left, gets past Ilievski, and skelps a cross from a tight angle that Dimitrievski is forced to tip over the bar. Nothing comes of the corner. Share

18m ago 16.21 EDT 35 min: Wales are beginning to dominate possession, and the home fans aren’t particularly pleased about it. A lot of agitated hooting and hollering. Share

19m ago 16.20 EDT 33 min: Daniel James plays a cute reverse pass down the inside-right channel to release his namesake Jordan into the box. A low cross finds Thomas free, coming in from the left. Thomas has to score, but somehow screws his shot back across the face of goal. That’s an awful miss. Wales should be leading. Share

21m ago 16.19 EDT 32 min: Jordan James has his pocket picked 35 yards from the Wales goal by the extended leg of Kostadinov. The ball pings to Alimi, who starts to stride his way down the middle, only to show enough of the ball to Mepham. A crunching tackle saves the day for Wales. Jordan James owes Mepham one there. Share

23m ago 16.17 EDT 30 min: The game restarts and Miovski tries to smash a shot through a crowd on the edge of the Welsh box. The ball’s never pinballing its way through that. Blocked. Cleared. Share

24m ago 16.15 EDT 29 min: Yep, he’s definitely going to continue, but he pulled quite the face upon putting some weight on that foot. Not sure he’s comfortable at all. Share

25m ago 16.15 EDT 28 min: Dimitrievski is still down. He’s grimacing quite a lot. He steels himself to pull his boot back on. Looks like he’ll battle on for now. Share

27m ago 16.13 EDT 26 min: North Macedonia keeper Dimitrievski is down and demanding treatment. He looks to have a problem with his left foot. On come the doctors, off comes the boot. Time for Wales to take on some water and tactical direction from their manager. Share

28m ago 16.11 EDT 25 min: Ilievski goes skittering down the right touchline before whipping a low cross to the near post. Mepham batters clear with Miovski lurking. Share

30m ago 16.10 EDT 23 min: Williams leaps to win a header, only to be accidentally nudged in mid-air by Elmas. Williams lands awkwardly. Just winded by the looks of it. He’s back up again soon enough. View image in fullscreen Neco Williams fallas awkwardly after a challenge from Eljif Elmas. Photograph: Boris Grdanoski/AP Share Updated at 16.17 EDT

32m ago 16.07 EDT 21 min: Dan James wins a corner down the right. Thomas sends it long. Rodon wins a header but he’s too far out to trouble Dimitrievski. Share

33m ago 16.06 EDT 19 min: Elmas turns Rodon with absurd ease on the left and goes dancing up the touchline. But he’s eventually crowded out, and Jordan James races off down the middle. His attempt to one-two his way into the box runs into a brick wall. It’s good fun, this, with both teams firmly in front-foot mode. Share

35m ago 16.04 EDT 18 min: Now Alioski tugs illegally at Broadhead’s shirt. He’s really pushing his luck here. Share

36m ago 16.04 EDT 17 min: Williams advances down the right before swiftly turning tail near the byline. Alioski, who has been sat down by the trick, throws out an arm and tap-tackles Williams on the ankle. No card, which is a result for North Macedonia given the cynicism. The resulting free kick, which is effectively a corner, is nothing to write home about. Share Updated at 16.05 EDT

38m ago 16.02 EDT 15 min: Broadhead glides in from the right before swivelling and attempting to play a defence-splitter down the channel for Dan James. He gets the pass all wrong. But Wales come again, Broadhead releasing the same player down the right flank. Dan James tries to find Johnson in the middle with a low cross but again the final pass is lacking. Share

40m ago 16.00 EDT 13 min: Broadhead wins a 50-50 challenge with Aliosko, getting to a bouncing ball first. It looks like a clean challenge, and one which sets Wales off on a promising attack, but Alioski goes down and the whistle goes. Adding insult to injury, Broadhead then receives the one-more-and-you’re-booked lecture from the ref. All seems a bit much, but at least it’s not a yellow card. Share

42m ago 15.58 EDT 11 min: The referee stops the game to order Thomas to pull up his socks. Jack Grealish would last about two minutes with this dude. Share

44m ago 15.55 EDT 9 min: Johnson nutmegs Serafimov and wins a free kick near the centre circle. Williams wedges it down the inisde-left channel, hoping to find Johnson in the box. There’s too much oomph on the pass, though, and Johnson is unable to keep the ball in play, despite telescoping a leg in the hope of hooking it back in. Share

46m ago 15.54 EDT 7 min: Thomas again down the left flank. This time he gets the ball, and whips low and hard into the centre. Dimitrievski smothers. Share

47m ago 15.53 EDT 6 min: Darlow takes his sweet time over what should be a simple pass upfield, and nearly gets closed down by Bardhi. An additional half-second of dallying there and the keeper was in all sorts. Share

48m ago 15.51 EDT 5 min: Davies tries to release Thomas down the left flank but slices the pass out for a throw. It’s already clear that Wales fancy it along this flank. Share

50m ago 15.49 EDT 3 min: … and now it’s North Macedonia’s turn to show their hand. Kostadinov romps down the inside-right channel before lashing a low drive inches wide of the left-hand post. If the match keeps going like this we’ll be doing well. Share

51m ago 15.48 EDT 1 min: Nothing comes of it, though. Still, that’s a statement of intent from Wales. Share

52m ago 15.48 EDT 29 secs: Jordan James makes good down the left and sends a speculative curler towards the bottom right. Dimitrievski is forced to turn around the post. The first corner of the evening didn’t take long. Share

53m ago 15.46 EDT North Macedonia kick off. A huge roar. Share

54m ago 15.45 EDT … but first a minute of silence for the poor souls who lost their lives in Kocani. Immaculately observed. View image in fullscreen Photograph: Boris Grdanoski/AP Share Updated at 16.04 EDT

1h ago 15.42 EDT The teams are out. North Macedonia in black, Wales in red. We’ll be off once the anthems have been sung. Share

1h ago 15.36 EDT Bellamy also has a word with BBC Cymru Wales. “Energy … freshness … really important as it’s a very quick turnaround … North Macedonia have real counter-attacking ability … very good individual players, especially at the top end … we have to respect that … we’re prepared for as many scenarios as we can be … we’ll see how it plays out.” Share

1h ago 15.31 EDT Craig Bellamy talks to S4C. “We need freshness for this … very important … one or two changes with that in mind … Nathan Broadhead brings real intensity … a really good footballer … he’s always caught the eye … it will be a tricky game … different shapes.” Share

1h ago 15.20 EDT Both teams are in good form. Wales are unbeaten in seven under Craig Bellamy, and have won their last two matches handsomely, 4-1 against Iceland and 3-1 against Kazakhstan. North Macedonia are doing even better: they’re on a six-game winning streak, a run which has seen them win promotion to League B of the Nations League before winning their first game of World Cup qualification, Saturday’s 3-0 victory in Liechtenstein. Share

1h ago 15.12 EDT Tonight’s game in Skopje comes nine days after a nightclub fire in Kocani claimed 59 lives and injured many others. North Macedonia declared a seven-day period of national mourning in the wake of the tragedy, and tonight there will be a minute of silence before the match. Both sets of players will wear black armbands. “I’d like to send my condolences to the families and also the people of North Macedonia,” says Craig Bellamy. “We’ve had our own tragedies as well. We know as a country what they’re going through and I’d like them to know that everyone in Wales is fully behind them.” North Macedonia mourns dead in nightclub fire as 15 people detained Read more View image in fullscreen People attend a vigil in Skopje in memory of the victims of the Kocani nightclub fire. Photograph: Igor Banskoliev/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Share Updated at 15.57 EDT

2h ago 14.58 EDT Wales make three changes to their starting XI after the 3-1 home win over Kazakhstan. Chris Mepham replaces Connor Roberts at the back, Jordan James takes a midfield spot from David Brooks, and Nathan Broadhead starts up front instead of Liam Cullen. Aleksandar Trajkovski, whose late goal did for Wales in this fixture during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, and who put the finishing touch to this pitch-length move in Liechtenstein last Saturday … This North Macedonia team goal 😲#WCQ pic.twitter.com/vQ8KAYpu7L — UEFA EURO (@UEFAEURO) March 24, 2025 … is on the bench. Share

2h ago 14.40 EDT The teams North Macedonia: Dimitrievski, Zajkov, Serafimov, Musliu, Alioski, Ilievski, Alimi, Bardhi, Kostadinov, Miovski, Elmas.

Subs: Elezi, Iliev, Trapanosvki, Toshevski, Stankovski, Manev, Trajkovski, Stojchevski, Dimoski, Churlinov, Atanasov, Aleksovski. Wales: Darlow, Thomas, Mepham, Rodon, Ben Davies, Williams, Johnson, Jordan James, Sheehan, Daniel James, Broadhead.

Subs: Koumas, Moore, Roberts, Matondo, Ward, Lawrence, Allen, Mark Harris, Adam Davies, Cullen, Cabango, Brooks. Referee: Jerome Brisard (France). Share

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