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Craig Bellamy left Lisbon beaten but unbowed. Wales’ first match in the top tier of the Nations League ended in a 1-0 defeat at the Estadio Jose Alvalade on Thursday night, decided by a deflected Joao Felix strike in the 22nd minute, and a Portugal side who had 22 shots to Wales’ five. Yet Bellamy’s verdict on an injury-ravaged team that came within the width of a crossbar of a point was that the evening had shown him something worth building on.
“It was a difficult game for us. We had to suffer a lot,” Bellamy said. “I think that’s the longest we’ve been in a game without the ball.” He was not finished there. “There’s more for us, so that’s something we always look at as a positive.”
Suffering with a big heart
Felix’s goal was the sort Wales could do little about, the finish taking a touch off Ben Davies on its way past Danny Ward, who was making only his second appearance of the season. From there Portugal camped in Welsh territory, and for long stretches Bellamy’s players simply chased.
What they did not do was fold. Brennan Johnson looped an effort onto the bar with 15 minutes left, Lewis Koumas swung at the rebound and Ruben Dias hacked clear on the line, with Daniel James lurking. It was the closest a visiting side has come to taking something from Lisbon this year.
The context matters. Bellamy was without five players he would have picked:
- Harry Wilson, his most experienced creator
- Joe Rodon, the defensive foundation
- Karl Darlow, first-choice goalkeeper
- Dylan Lawlor
- Nathan Broadhead
“We have a lot of players who weren’t here. A lot of players who don’t play week-in, week-out,” Bellamy said. “So for them to use the energy they were able to, we’ve got to have a big heart. I have to be honest, I’m beyond proud as well.”
Portugal, the reigning Nations League champions, had their own frustrations. Cristiano Ronaldo, 41 and collecting his 234th cap, saw five of his seven efforts miss the target, kicked the air in disgust after one miss from 12 yards, had a 59th-minute finish ruled out for offside and was withdrawn on 67 minutes. Bellamy, who spent the night planning for him, was generous afterwards: “Ronaldo, he’s one of the greatest players of all generations, not just this generation. You have to plan for him because he’s beyond dangerous, even at his age.” He added that he would “love to think I’d have the opportunity to be up against him again.”
A group that will not give anything away
Wales are in League A because they earned it, coming through the promotion play-offs after a 2024-25 campaign spent in League B. The reward is Group 4 alongside Portugal, Denmark and Norway — three sides ranked above them, and a schedule with no soft landing anywhere in it.
Thursday’s other fixture underlined the point. Norway beat Denmark 3-2 with a double from Erling Haaland, and did so despite finishing with ten men. Wales are bottom of the group on goal difference after one round, but nobody in it looks like dropping points cheaply, and a single-goal defeat away to the holders is a long way from a disaster.
There is a harder backdrop too. This is Wales’ first competitive window since the World Cup play-offs, where Edin Dzeko’s late equaliser dragged Bosnia-Herzegovina level and a 4-2 shootout defeat ended Bellamy’s hopes of taking Wales to a summer tournament in North America. The squad that suffered in Lisbon is a squad still processing that.
What comes next
The turnaround is brutal. Wales travel to Copenhagen to face Denmark on Sunday at 17:00 BST, three days after running themselves into the ground against a team with 22 shots. Bellamy’s selection problems will not have eased, and a Denmark side beaten in Norway will be looking to correct course at home.
The league phase runs to 17 November, with six matches to settle the group. The top two go into the quarter-finals in March 2027 and on towards the Finals that June; last place brings a relegation play-off and a likely return to League B. For a nation that has never previously operated at this level of the competition, survival would represent genuine progress — and Bellamy’s point about Portugal was that his team were not out of their depth, only out of possession.
On the evidence of Lisbon, the margins are thinner than the shot count suggests. Wales need Johnson’s effort to drop a few inches lower, and they need their absentees back. Bellamy clearly believes both are coming.
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Sources checked before writing: [Yahoo Sports](https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/bellamy-wants-more-wales-portugal-222839200.html), [Nation.Cymru](https://nation.cymru/sport/craig-bellamy-proud-of-wales-big-hearted-performance-in-defeat-to-portugal/), [ESPN match report](https://www.espn.com/soccer/report/_/gameId/401861044), [Wikipedia — 2026-27 UEFA Nations League A](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_UEFA_Nations_League_A), [TNT Sports](https://www.tntsports.co.uk/football/uefa-nations-league/2026-2027/live-portugal-wales_mtc20005830/live-commentary.shtml), [ESPN — Norway 3-2 Denmark](https://www.espn.com/soccer/match/_/gameId/401861046/denmark-norway), [ESPN — World Cup play-offs](https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/48223038/2026-world-cup-european-playoffs-wales-northern-ireland-republic-ireland-qualify-route-difficulty-future-groups).
Two notes on what I deliberately left out: one source described Ronaldo’s disallowed goal as a career milestone with a specific number, which conflicted across outlets, so the article states only that it was ruled out for offside. Word count is 738.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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