Craig Bellamy believes Wales’ win over Norway has “thrown a hand grenade” into their Nations League group, and his side now go in search of another victory when Denmark visit Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday.
Wales remain bottom of Group A4 despite Thursday’s morale-boosting triumph, although they sit level on points with Norway and Denmark at the halfway stage of the campaign. A win over Denmark on Sunday (19:45 BST) would be a significant step towards avoiding a last-place finish and would give a major lift to Wales’ hopes of qualifying for the European Championship.
Bellamy expects Portugal to top the group regardless of what happens elsewhere, but he sees the battle behind them as entirely open following Wales’ surprise result. “I don’t know with the way the group’s gone now because that [result] has thrown in a hand grenade,” he said. “Basically, the group’s exploded now between the three of us because, obviously, Denmark will look at it and say, well, they didn’t expect that, so we all sit on three points apart from Portugal.”
He added that Portugal “have run away with this, and they’re going to win the group”, before turning to his own side’s ambitions: “Now can we really be in the mix with these two heavyweight Scandinavian teams? That’s the aim. We’ll see where that goes.”
There is more at stake than Nations League pride. Should Wales finish third or higher in the group, they will be a top seed in December’s draw for Euro 2028 qualifying. Bellamy admitted he is “definitely conscious” of the importance of finishing above fourth. “We see [the level when] we’re playing against teams who are pot one, so if we don’t have to play another pot one, then it’s nice,” he said. “It’s a real motivation, of course. That would really help us.”
The Norway result carried weight for other reasons. Wales came from behind to register their first Nations League A win across two campaigns in the competition’s top tier, a victory that also ended a six-match winless run stretching back to November 2025. Bellamy acknowledged afterwards that he had been through a “really difficult spell”.
Now his side must back it up against a Denmark team ranked 21st in the world, having been beaten in dispiriting fashion by the same opponents in Copenhagen only last weekend. “We have to perform like we did against Norway,” Bellamy said. “That’s all I’m thinking about again – consistency and perform, perform, perform.”
The Wales manager was blunt about his side’s display in the reverse fixture. He said he “didn’t recognise” his team in Copenhagen, explaining: “That’s not what we do and how we’ve been when we’ve been at our best. We were too disconnected from front to back. We didn’t create the overloads. It was too easy for [Denmark] to press us. Five men could press seven of our players – that’s impossible. We learned a lot; I learned a lot from Denmark.”
Bellamy is also preparing for changes to his starting line-up, as he regularly makes significant alterations regardless of results. Wales’ options are limited in this window, with Karl Darlow, Joe Rodon, Dylan Lawlor and Harry Wilson all absent and David Brooks having returned to his club after the opening defeat in Portugal. Even so, Bellamy said he has no choice but to make alterations for the final game of the four-match international window. “If I could pick the team that started the other night, [I would] all day,” he said. “[But it is] just not possible. I would love to make it possible, but it isn’t. One or two didn’t come through it. So, not giving away the team, of course, but there will be one or two changes because we have to.”