Craig Bellamy says Wales' win over Norway has "thrown a hand grenade" into their Nations League group as they go in search of another victory against Denmark in Cardiff on Sunday. Wales remain bottom of Group A4 despite Thursday's morale-boosting triumph over Norway, though they are level on points with the World Cup quarter-finalists and Denmark at the halfway point in the campaign. They would take a big step towards avoiding a last-place finish by beating Denmark on Sunday (19:45), and receive a significant boost to their European Championship qualification hopes.
If Wales end their Nations League campaign in third place or higher, they will be a top seed in December's draw for Euro 2028 qualifying. Bellamy says Portugal will win the group "unless a disaster happens" - but feels the race for the places is wide open after his side shocked Norway. "I don't know with the way the group's gone now because that [result] has thrown in a hand grenade," he said.
Live on BBC iPlayer, BBC Two Wales, BBC Sounds, BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru and 5 Live, BBC Sport website and app, plus live text commentary. "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. "Portugal have run away with this, and they're going to win the group.
Now can we really be in the mix with these two heavyweight Scandinavian teams? We'll see where that goes." Wales came from behind against Norway to register their first Nations League A win across two campaigns in the competition's top tier. The victory also ended a six-match winless run stretching back to November 2025, with Bellamy admitting after the game that he had been through a "really difficult spell".
Wales will now attempt to build on what was the most notable success of the Bellamy era when they take on a Denmark side ranked 21st in the world. "We have to perform like we did against Norway," Bellamy added. "That's all I'm thinking about again - consistency and perform, perform, perform." Nevertheless, Bellamy acknowledged that he is "definitely conscious" of the importance of finishing above fourth in the group.
"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 added. "It's a real motivation, of course. That would really help us." Bellamy regularly makes significant changes to his side regardless of results.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
