Wales have been left with a survival fight after disappointing night in Oslo. A failure to take chances on what was otherwise an historical day in Welsh sport leaves questions over head coach,Craig Bellamy and indeed the ability for Wales as a country to compete at the levels we have come to expect in recent times.

Wales had their moments in Oslo last night, but a 3–1 defeat to Norway has left them bottom of their Nations League group with one match remaining. Even beating Portugal on Tuesday won’t change that position, although there is still plenty riding on the game. The frustrating thing was that Wales looked capable of getting a result during the first half. Daniel James caused problems and had opportunities, but Wales couldn’t turn their promising play into a lead. They went into the break level, only for the game to get away from them after half-time.

Antonio Nusa put Norway ahead before Andreas Schjelderup made it two, finishing from an Erling Haaland pass. David Brooks gave Wales some hope with a lovely chipped finish, but that didn’t last. Connor Roberts conceded a penalty and Haaland (below) put it away to settle the game. That leaves Wales on three points from five matches. Norway have six, Denmark nine and Portugal twelve, with the Danes springing a surprise by winning 4–1 in Portugal. Wales cannot catch Norway because their head-to-head record is worse, so fourth place is already settled.

The good news is that finishing bottom doesn’t automatically send Wales down. Under the revised Nations League system, only the two worst fourth-placed sides go straight into League B. The other two get a two-legged play-off against a League B runner-up, giving them another chance to stay up. A draw against Portugal would guarantee Wales that chance. Even if they lose, their advantage over the other bottom sides means a play-off remains the likely outcome. Wales would play the second leg at home, which could be useful when their place in the top division is on the line.

There is another disappointment too, as the defeat means Wales have missed out on being top seeds for Euro 2028 qualifying. That could make their qualifying group tougher. So Tuesday certainly isn’t a game to shrug off, even if Wales cannot move up the table. There were encouraging spells in Oslo, but Bellamy’s side need to turn those into goals and results. They competed for parts of the evening; Norway made the important moments count.

Post match Bellamy : “It was a good performance. I thought there were huge parts of the game where we played really well. We lost a bit of energy and that was a difficult period. I thought the subs really gave us that push again and we got it to 2-1. But overall, there were some things that were really positive. It’s still disappointing because we lost at the end of the day.”

Photographs: As per declaration, rework by TNTclick Media