![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_Craig-Bellamy-file-photo.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBellamy still has two years to run on his deal with the Welsh FA but is one of several names linked with Parkhead this summer<\/p>\n
Craig Bellamy(Image: PA)<\/p>\n
Craig Bellamy has insisted the Wales<\/a> job was the \u201cbest role in the world\u201d and he would refocus after suffering World Cup heartbreak.<\/p>\n Bellamy<\/a> is nearly halfway through a four-year contract and his work with Wales has reportedly drawn plenty of club admirers, even though the Dragons\u2019 hopes of a playing at a second-successive World Cup perished on penalties against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday.<\/p>\n The 46-year-old Wales manager has been regularly linked with former club Celtic<\/a>, who have veteran boss Martin O\u2019Neill in interim charge until the end of the season.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always difficult after not achieving your objectives,\u201d Bellamy said when asked about his future ahead of tonight\u2019s friendly with Northern Ireland in Cardiff.<\/p>\n \u201cNext week\u2019s empty because I was so looking forward to going to Salt Lake City (Wales\u2019 planned World Cup training base in the United States).<\/p>\n \u201cThe heartbreak was more than I anticipated, but to gain the energy, to refocus, to want to go again, is definitely still there. It\u2019s the best role in the world.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing will ever compare to this, so why would I want to wish it away? I don\u2019t know what more I can say other than I really enjoy doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n Bellamy admitted to feeling guilty after Wales missed out on the 48-team tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States this summer.<\/p>\n Football Association of Wales chief executive Noel Mooney said not reaching the World Cup would cost Welsh football 10 million euros (\u00a38.7m).<\/p>\n Bellamy said: \u201cMy concentration was more about the players I\u2019m leading, but I\u2019m fully aware of the infrastructure we have in Wales and how much it needs to improve.<\/p>\n Craig Bellamy, head coach of Wales, speaks to his team<\/p>\n \u201cWe have taken big steps so far, but we need to keep improving. I\u2019ve probably gone everywhere around Wales and seen it myself, so I do feel guilty.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to bring myself back into reality. It will be more intense, of course, but I have young kids and they will definitely pick me up.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you actually believe they care what happened? When you\u2019re a five-year-old, you haven\u2019t got a clue what happened.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like \u2018yeah, let\u2019s start playing Barbie. Let\u2019s get Belle out. Who\u2019s the Beast? I\u2019m the Beast, let\u2019s go\u2019. Kids have a great way of being able to bring you back to reality.\u201d<\/p>\n There will be several changes on both sides from the play-off semi-finals as Wales and Northern Ireland \u2013 who lost 2-0 to Italy on Thursday \u2013 fulfil a fixture as UEFA rules mandate.<\/p>\n Leicester midfielder Jordan James and Cardiff playmaker Rubin Colwill have returned to their respective clubs and Leeds winger Daniel James could also miss out.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to start looking forward now because the simple fact is, we have a game,\u201d said Bellamy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to fulfil fixtures otherwise we get fined heavily.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the same for Northern Ireland. We both have to pick ourselves up and move on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bellamy still has two years to run on his deal with the Welsh FA but is one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":575545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,18282,8089,596,113572,9003,85,30835,282267,124617,63566],"class_list":{"0":"post-575544","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-celtic-fc","11":"tag-craig-bellamy","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-martin-oneill","14":"tag-scottish-premiership","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-uefa","17":"tag-wales-football-team","18":"tag-world-cup-2026","19":"tag-world-cup-qualifiers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/575545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_JS401281395.jpg\")
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