Preview:Wales vs North Macedonia - prediction, team news, lineups

Both involved in a tantalising three-way tussle for direct World Cup 2026 qualification, Wales and North Macedonia wrap up their Group J campaigns at the Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday night.

The two nations are locked together on 13 points in the section, although with Belgium two points better off in first place, the result of Tuesday's fixture will almost certainly prove trivial.

Match preview

Labouring to their third victory from their last five World Cup 2026 qualifiers, Wales had to wait until the 61st minute to make the breakthrough against a stubborn Liechtenstein outfit, who held out for over an hour before Jordan James's close-range finish.

A lack of ruthlessness and a disallowed Nathan Broadhead strike meant that Craig Bellamy's men had to settle for an uninspiring 1-0 win over the group's basement side on Saturday, but an ugly victory was far more preferable to no victory at all for the North America hopefuls.

Failure to overcome Liechtenstein would have eliminated Wales from first-placed contention, but Bellamy's men - who sit third in the group - can still usurp North Macedonia and Belgium to finish top of Group J and earn an automatic ticket to the World Cup.

For that to occur, however, not only would the hosts need to win their game, but they would also require Belgium to suffer the shock defeat of all shock defeats at home to Liechtenstein, so even glass-half-full Wales fans may already be resigning their side to second at best.

Regardless of what transpires this week, Bellamy's men will enter next year's playoffs thanks to their UEFA Nations League ranking, and Saturday's success - as unstimulating as it was - was a welcome change after three straight losses to England, Canada and Belgium.

Despite suffering two defeats in their last four World Cup qualifiers, Wales only trail North Macedonia on goal difference heading into a potential winner-takes-all battle, which the visitors enter on a mean defensive streak.

Indeed, the Euro 2020 participants - whose first and only major tournament appearance as an independent nation came at the delayed continental championships four years ago - have conceded just one goal in their last 360 minutes of football across competitive and non-competitive fixtures.

That solitary effort against them came in their last Group J fixture - a 1-1 draw with Kazakhstan - prior to which Blagoja Milevski's men kept Belgium at bay and thumped Liechtenstein 5-0 to move to within touching distance of the Red Devils in first place.

The visitors unsurprisingly boast the best defensive record in the group with just three goals conceded, and they are also yet to suffer a single loss in World Cup 2026 Qualifying, but most recent outing was also a forgettable affair - a 0-0 friendly draw with Latvia.

North Macedonia and Wales also shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw during March's Group J fixture, but the only previous meeting between the two nations on Welsh soil ended in a 1-0 Dragons success in 2013, when Simon Church scored the only goal of the game.

Wales World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:

Wales form (all competitions):

North Macedonia World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:

North Macedonia form (all competitions):

Team News

One boost and two blows is the theme for Wales on the team news front, as Bellamy has lost captain Ethan Ampadu and goalscorer James to suspension for Tuesday's game, after both men collected their second bookings of Qualifying against Liechtenstein.

In brighter news, Fulham winger Harry Wilson - the highest active scorer in the Wales squad with 14 goals to his name - is back from a ban of his own and should slot straight back into the attack, likely in Broadhead's place.

Bolton Wanderers midfielder Josh Sheehan is the only like-for-like Ampadu replacement in the hosts' squad, while on the injury front, Chris Mepham was not involved at the weekend as he manages a fitness issue.

As for North Macedonia, Milevski has no such suspension concerns to work around for Tuesday's critical fixture, and the visitors should also boast a fully-fit squad for the trip to Cardiff.

Captain Enis Bardhi was taken off at half time in Thursday's draw with Latvia, but there is no indication that the 30-year-old midfielder was withdrawn due to a fitness issue, so he should be fine to anchor the engine room.

Former Burnley attacker Darko Churlinov is expected to operate on the left wing for North Macedonia, but ex-Leeds United defender Ezgjan Alioski was not called up to the November squad due to injury.

Wales possible starting lineup:

Darlow; Williams, Rodon, Lawlor, Dasilva; Sheehan; Johnson, Wilson, Brooks, D. James; Harris

North Macedonia possible starting lineup:

Dimitrievski; Ilievski, Serafimov, Stojchevski, Ashkovski; Kostadinov, Alimi, Bardhi; Ristovski, Trajkovski, Churlinov

We say: Wales 1-1 North Macedonia

Realistically, the result of this match should pale into insignificance, as Belgium losing at home to Liechtenstein and not qualifying for the World Cup in first place would be one of the biggest international footballing upsets of the 21st century.

Both sets of players will no doubt be aware of that too, and as the two nations have managed just four goals between them in their last three games, a low-scoring draw looks a likely outcome.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.