Wales Faces Tough Nations League Challenge with New Talent
Craig Bellamy has thrown a fresh face into the fire and lost a defensive pillar just as Wales step back into elite company.
Cian Ashford, 21 and rising fast at Cardiff City, has been handed his first senior call-up for a Nations League campaign that drops Wales straight into a group with Portugal, Denmark and Norway. It is a bold nod to youth at the very moment experience has been ripped from the back line.
Because Joe Rodon is out.
The first-choice centre-back, the man you would want in front of Erling Haaland and Cristiano Ronaldo, has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. His usual partner Dylan Lawlor is missing too, still sidelined with a knee problem and yet to kick a ball this season. Another Cardiff defender, Ronan Kpakio, also sits this one out.
For a side already wobbling, it is a brutal hit.
Bellamy’s rebuild under pressure
Bellamy’s 28-man squad carries the scars of recent months. Wales have not won in four, and the last time they tasted competitive football it ended in the agony of a penalty shoot-out defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina in March, a loss that slammed the door on the World Cup.
Since then, the manager himself has flirted with the exit. Talks with Burnley brought him close to walking away from the national job. While he stayed, his staff did not. Assistant Piet Cremers has left for a role in Belgium, while James Rowberry has stepped aside to focus on his club duties at Stoke City.
The replacements are heavyweight names. Former captain Ashley Williams joins the staff, alongside ex-Swansea City boss Alan Sheehan. Between them they bring leadership, familiarity and a hard edge that Wales will need in a group like this.
Because this is no gentle reintroduction to League A. This is a gantlet.
A brutal Nations League draw
Wales, now down at 38th in the world rankings – their lowest position since August 2014 – open away to the current Nations League holders, Portugal, on 24 September. Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to be named in Jorge Jesus’ first squad as Portugal manager, a reunion of sorts from their Saudi Pro League days.
From there, the schedule tightens. Two clashes with Denmark, ranked 21st in the world, frame a home date with World Cup quarter-finalists Norway. Haaland in Cardiff on 1 October. A return trip to Copenhagen on 4 October.
Wales have not beaten a side in the top 20 of the rankings since a 2-1 win over Croatia in October 2023. Under Bellamy, they have yet to defeat a team ranked above them. Now they must try to do it three times in quick succession.
The margins will be thin. The scrutiny will not be.
New blood, old scars
Amid the defensive problems, there is some attacking relief.
Harry Wilson returns after missing the June friendlies against Ghana and Romania through injury, a boost to the creative department. Jordan James is back as well, the Wolves midfielder offering legs and bite in the centre of the pitch. Ben Cabango reappears in defence, a welcome addition given the absences around him.
Mark Harris and Liam Cullen are recalled, while Wes Burns – now at Leicester City – has the chance to pull on the red shirt again. The 10-cap winger has not played for his country since 2024, but his versatility and work rate could prove invaluable in a squad light on established wide options.
Then there is Ashford.
The Cardiff forward has started the Championship season with purpose and edge, enough to catch Bellamy’s eye in a crowded field. He joins an attacking group that also includes Liverpool youngster Lewis Koumas, another sign that the manager is willing to trust emerging talent on a big stage.
Cardiff teammates Isaak Davies and Rubin Colwill are both unavailable through injury, while midfielder Kai Andrews misses out despite an impressive start on loan at Aaron Ramsey’s Oxford United from Coventry City. Form alone is not always enough when the stakes rise and the squad size shrinks.
Davies back in the thick of it
At the other end of the experience scale stands Ben Davies, still the captain, still central to any Welsh resistance.
The 33-year-old defender was named in the summer squads but did not feature as he recovered from a serious ankle injury suffered with Tottenham in January. He has since returned to action for Spurs and now looks ready for his first international appearance since October 2025, when he won his 100th cap.
His leadership will be critical. With Rodon and Lawlor out, the back line will likely lean heavily on Davies’ positioning, organisation and calm in what promises to be a relentless run of games.
This is a Wales side in transition, trying to stitch together a new identity while fighting to stay at the top table of European football. The results have not yet matched the ambition. The rankings tell their own story.
Now comes Portugal. Then Denmark. Then Haaland and Norway. Then Denmark again.
For Bellamy and his reshaped staff, there is nowhere to hide and no time to ease in the next generation. The question is simple: can this patched-up, evolving Wales side punch back against the heavyweights, or is a long, hard autumn about to expose just how far they still have to climb?
