Craig Bellamy has admitted the gulf in squad depth between Wales and England is so vast that “a boxing promoter wouldn’t even put us together.”

Wales face England in a friendly at Wembley on Thursday before turning their attention to a crucial World Cup qualifier against Belgium next week.

Bellamy's side sit third in Group J, a point off first place North Macedonia, and level with Belgium, though Domenico Tedesco's side have a game in hand. 

Despite omitting several stars — including Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, and Jack Grealish — England manager Thomas Tuchel still boasts an abundance of talent, something Bellamy openly acknowledged.

“England have a ridiculous squad, like France,” Bellamy said.

“They have a transfer market value of £1.4bn, ours is £170m. If you were a boxing promoter, you wouldn’t put us together. It wouldn’t be allowed.”

The Wales boss said competing with such elite opposition fuels his team’s motivation. “We don’t go off values, but they don’t just have one team — they have two, three, four,” he added.

Bellamy became head coach in 2024 and led Wales on a 9-game unbeaten run, and has lost just two of his 12 games in charge so far. 

“One right-back went out injured the other day and there’s only 24 more to go! They’ve got 60-odd players. I’d love us to be stacked like them.”

Bellamy also praised England boss Tuchel, describing him as “an incredible manager” with “top-level tactical detail,” adding: “I wanted to be up against that — see how you adapt, because he will. I’ll get to learn from that. I’d love to get to that level.”