Craig Bellamy has joked England are paying Thomas Tuchel as much in expenses as the Wales manager earns in salary, as the two nations prepare to meet at Wembley on Thursday.
The Wales manager, who has lost only two of his 12 games in charge, insists the trip across the border is not a risk, but an invaluable test of where his developing squad stand.
Bellamy picked this fixture, ahead of the vital World Cup clash against Belgium four days later, because he considers England are currently one of the most complete national sides in world football.
Tuchel's team are currently fourth in the FIFA world ranking - behind only Spain, France and Argentina - with Wales in 30th spot.
“For a number of years now, I’ve always found that this is a serious team, a team that can go and win it, win tournaments,” said Bellamy.
“They breeze qualifying on a consistent basis. I just see the gulf between them and other teams, and they’re really in that top three, top four bracket, and a manager (Thomas Tuchel) like what we see now, I can only see benefit and help in that.”
Wales return to Wembley for the first time since a 3-0 defeat under Ryan Giggs five years ago, and their first meeting with England since the 2022 World Cup, when Gareth Bale’s international farewell ended in a similar scoreline.
Much has changed since then — Bale, the nation’s most-capped player and record scorer, has retired, and many predicted a slide back into obscurity.
But Bellamy is adamant those fears were misplaced.
“I was told before this that it was all falling off a cliff now – the king has gone, and he was that. But I only saw it as like, ‘No, there’s a lot of good players here’. And you think there’s a lot of good players now? Wait until the next couple of years. This machine’s going to get stronger.”
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Bellamy has built his tenure on belief, energy and identity. Thursday’s friendly will be another test of his high-intensity, possession-driven style against elite opposition — something he believes Wales need more of if they are to grow.
“I want us to be in this,” he said.
“I wanted us in Group A on a consistent basis because that’s where we play the best teams. We need to be in tournaments because we play the best teams.
"Now, if we want to be a top football nation, which we’ve flirted with at times, I want us to be able to try and do it all the time.”
“I only see it as win-win”
While England will be heavy favourites, Bellamy sees nothing but opportunity.
He shrugs off any suggestion that facing one of Europe’s most powerful sides could backfire.
“I don’t look at it like risk. It’s a horrid word, especially in football terms,” he said. “
It’s a word we use flippantly as well, we use it too much, and it’s not real. What’s risk in football? Make a mistake? Get the ball again. So I always look at it as much as I can that way.
“But this type of team, going back to the England one again, I only see it as a win-win. I really do.”
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For Bellamy, exposure to this level is essential if Wales are to keep pace with the nations they aspire to challenge.
“These moments against real high intensity, that’s where you have to create your angles quicker… that’s where you get stressed more,” he explained.
“So I see this as for us to get to where we want to, it’s like the more we live in this environment, the quicker we can get to that.”
Bellamy is full of admiration the squad German boss Tuchel has assembled — a group he believes has the talent, balance and mentality to finally turn England’s potential into a trophy.
“They’re built for that. That’s why you pay big money for your manager. You don’t pay me that! I get a fraction. His expenses would be what I do!
"But it’s rightly so. You’re there to win it, you know what I mean? And everyone expects it. If England go into a major tournament and they don’t win, it’s a failure. I didn’t see it as that.”
The Wales manager’s respect for England’s depth runs deep. On the debate over Jude Bellingham’s absence after he was left out by Tuchel, Bellamy offered a wry smile.
“England have loads of great players and that’s the honest truth. One right-back went out injured the other day and there’s only 24 more to go!
"They have 60-odd players. That’s how it should be with a country of that size. Football is beyond important. We'd call it stacked. I’d love us to be stacked.”
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That ambition underpins Bellamy's long-term plan for Wales — to develop depth, competition and consistency.
“In my mind, I want us to be stacked and be able to go like for like,” he said. “We’re not quite there yet. But that’s the build for me.”
Full throttle at Wembley
Bellamy insists Wales must match England’s intensity if they are to make the night competitive and if it is to provide a template for the clash at home the Belgians.
“It’s different from playing against a team that is going to completely sit off … with this one, there are loads of areas where this game can turn against you, but I see that as we have to be so good in these two games, there’s no denying it,” he said.
“We have to be at the top end of what we’re able to do and that’s what gives you that buzz.
"We just can’t compete with these teams if we are not full gas. For us, it’s like, great, let’s try and be full gas all the time.”
“For me,” he said, “this type of game is only a win-win.”
