Wales Faces Tough Challenge in Nations League with New Faces
Craig Bellamy has turned to youth and improvisation as Wales step back into the deep end of the Nations League – and straight into the path of Erling Haaland and Cristiano Ronaldo – without their defensive linchpin Joe Rodon.
The Cardiff City forward Cian Ashford has been handed a first senior call-up, a bold nod to form and fearlessness, while Rodon, Bellamy’s first-choice centre-back, misses out with a hamstring injury at the worst possible time.
Rodon out, defence reshuffled
Rodon’s absence rips a hole in the spine of a side already short on continuity. His regular partner Dylan Lawlor is also missing from the 28-man squad, still sidelined this season by a knee problem, and Cardiff defender Ronan Kpakio drops out as well.
Bellamy must now rewire a back line that will be asked to cope with Haaland’s power and Ronaldo’s relentlessness in a brutal run of fixtures against Portugal, Denmark and Norway in League A.
Captain Ben Davies stays in, and this time he is ready to play. The 33-year-old was named in the summer squads but never featured as he recovered from a serious ankle injury suffered with Tottenham in January. He has since returned to action for Spurs and is in contention for his first Wales appearance since October 2025, when he reached 100 caps.
Fresh faces, familiar threats
Amid the defensive disruption, there is at least some good news. Leeds United’s Harry Wilson and Wolves midfielder Jordan James return after missing June’s friendlies against Ghana and Romania through injury. Swansea City defender Ben Cabango is back too.
The attacking options have been quietly refreshed. Alongside Ashford, 21, who has impressed in the early weeks of the Championship season, Liverpool’s Lewis Koumas adds another sharp, energetic edge up front.
Mark Harris and Liam Cullen return, while Wes Burns – now at Leicester City – earns a recall and could make his first international appearance since 2024. Ten caps into his Wales career, Burns suddenly has another opening on the right flank.
Not everyone in form makes it. Cardiff forwards Isaak Davies and Rubin Colwill are both ruled out through injury, and there is no place for midfielder Kai Andrews despite his eye-catching start at Aaron Ramsey’s Oxford United while on loan from Coventry City.
Brutal schedule, brutal opponents
Wales’ re-entry into the top tier of the Nations League is not gentle. They open away to reigning champions Portugal on 24 September, the first of four fixtures in an extended international window.
Denmark await twice, with a home clash against World Cup quarter-finalists Norway dropped into the middle. The sequence reads like a stress test: Portugal away, Denmark away in Copenhagen, Norway in Cardiff on 1 October, then Denmark again in Cardiff on 4 October.
Their opponents are yet to name squads, but Ronaldo is widely expected to feature for Portugal in their first games under Jorge Jesus, his former coach in the Saudi Pro League. Haaland’s Norway, ranked above Wales, bring another world-class focal point to Cardiff.
Wales, ranked 38th in the world – their lowest position since August 2014 – have not beaten a top-20 side since a 2-1 victory over Croatia in October 2023. Under Bellamy, they are still waiting for a first win against a team ranked higher than themselves. Now they face three of them in quick succession.
Bellamy stays – and reshapes his staff
All of this comes just weeks after Bellamy came close to walking away. The manager held talks with Championship club Burnley and looked on the brink of leaving his national post before deciding to stay.
The cost has been felt around him instead. Assistant manager Piet Cremers has left for a role in Belgium, while James Rowberry has stepped aside from the national set-up to focus on his club job as assistant at Stoke City.
Bellamy has moved quickly to rebuild his inner circle. Former Wales captain Ashley Williams joins the coaching staff, bringing the authority of a defender who has lived these high-pressure nights, while ex-Swansea City boss Alan Sheehan also comes in as they brace for what looks like a defining stretch.
A team at a crossroads
Wales arrive at this window on a run of four games without a win. Their last competitive outing ended in heartbreak: a penalty shoot-out defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina in March’s play-offs that ended their World Cup dream.
Now they re-enter competitive action with a patched-up defence, a reshaped bench, and a clutch of young forwards asked to grow up quickly on the biggest stage.
Portugal, Denmark, Norway. Haaland and Ronaldo. League A, with no hiding places.
For Bellamy and this evolving squad, the question is blunt: do they sink back towards the wilderness of 2014, or use this brutal run to drag Wales back among Europe’s heavyweights?
