Wales produced a scintillating performance on home soil as they ran out 7-1 winners over North Macedonia in Cardiff on Tuesday.
Harry Wilson scored a hat-trick, including two penalties, while David Brooks, Brennan Johnson, Dan James and Nathan Broadhead also found the net as Craig Bellamy’s side clinched second spot in Group J.
Bellamy’s men had already secured their place in the World Cup qualifying play-offs prior to kick-off, but the Dragons were well and truly roaring on a memorable evening in the Welsh capital.
The hosts began the brighter of the two sides and were rewarded with a penalty after a quarter of an hour when Brooks was tripped in the box by Andrej Stojchevski.
Wilson stepped up and dispatched the spot-kick to give Bellamy’s men the early advantage.
Brooks then got himself on the scoresheet three minutes later when his deflected shot found the back of the net.
North Macedonia hit back straight away through Bojan Miovski before the two-goal lead was restored courtesy of a sublime solo run from Johnson.
James added a fourth after the break before Wilson curled home a fifth from a free-kick to make it five.
The Fulham midfielder then capped off a sensational individual display when he stroked in his hat-trick from the penalty spot after he had been tripped by Darko Velkovski in the area.
Bellamy’s men, however, weren’t done yet. As the clock ticked over into second-half stoppage time, Broadhead netted a seventh to crown a sublime night in Cardiff.
