Craig Bellamy left frustrated as Wales suffer Euro 2028 blow with Norway defeat

Phil Blanche, Press Association, Oslo

Craig Bellamy expressed his disappointment after Wales’ Nations League defeat in Norway ended hopes of being a top seed in Euro 2028 qualifying.

Wales knew finishing in the top three of their Nations League group would see them join Europe’s heavyweights in pot one at next month’s Euros draw in Belfast.

But second-half goals from Antonio Nusa, Andreas Schjelderup and Erling Haaland condemned Wales to a 3-1 defeat in Oslo, with David Brooks replying for the Dragons.

Wales are now guaranteed to finish bottom of Group A4 with a worse head-to-head record against Denmark and Norway – the two teams they could have potentially drawn level with on six points by beating Portugal in their final group game in Cardiff.

A draw against Portugal on Tuesday would guarantee Wales a Nations League relegation play-off in March against a League B runner-up.

“We wanted to be in pot one. That was the drive,” Wales boss Bellamy said of missing out on top seed status in Euro 2028 qualifying.

“Some people might say, ‘What makes you think you should be in pot one?’. But I do.

“Maybe I’m naive. I see in big parts of that game today that we can be in pot one.

“Let’s take the good bits from the game, definitely improve on certain moments of the game and just keep pushing.”

Wales will be Euro 2028 co-hosts alongside England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland – and actually get the tournament under way in Cardiff should they qualify.

The Dragons shaded the first half in a freezing Oslo, but were undone in the space of nine second-half minutes as the outstanding Nusa and substitute Schjelderup scored.

Brooks pulled one back 11 minutes from time after also coming off the bench, but Haaland made it 66 goals in 60 games for Norway from the penalty spot after Connor Roberts had bundled over Schjelderup.

Bellamy said: “There is loads for us to improve on but I’ve liked a lot of it, I have to be honest.

“It’s not that we want to sit in, we always look at the pressure on the ball and I thought at times first half we did that really well.

“When we tried to trigger we were able to move the ball well, and then turn into attack for us even from deep areas.

“So it was a lot of good things, but in the second half I just felt we lost a bit of momentum. We lost a bit of energy and that was a difficult period.”

Wales were energised by their substitutions as Bournemouth forward Brooks and Cardiff playmaker Rubin Colwill brought new life to the attack.

Bellamy said: “I thought Rubin and Broosky were top and ‘Sparky’ (Mark Harris) brought the energy and the intensity he’s going to give you.

“I thought the subs really gave us that push again and we got it to 2-1.

“But we made a mistake and it falls to a player who was offside, but then he isn’t offside by the time he hits the ball.”